


Birds of a Feather

by pixlh3art



Series: Birds of a Feather [1]
Category: Metroid Series
Genre: Action & Romance, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbians in Space, Metroid - Freeform, Nintendo won't give Samus a girlfriend so I have to do it myself, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Space Warrior saves Space Princess from Space Dragon, but also violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2020-03-20 11:19:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 59,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18991612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixlh3art/pseuds/pixlh3art
Summary: Samus Aran has saved the entire galaxy countless times. From the Metroids to the X-Parasites, she's seen universe-destroying threats and conquered them all.But this time, all that Samus has to save is one woman. And maybe that woman will save her, too.





	1. Infiltration

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friend Ember for the title! You rock!
> 
> Disregard the following if you don't care about Metroid lore
> 
> Okay so Metroid is definitely one of the more "forgotten" Nintendo series these days, because we see Samus in Smash about as often as we see her in her own universe. Also, Metroid lore is super complex but also very simple, so for the purposes of this fic, Samus is at an unspecified point in her timeline. Because this fic could theoretically fit into so many places, I've chosen to make it ambiguous. Also, there are very few (if any) good summations of Metroid lore that I was able to find, and because all I really wanted was to give Samus a girl to smooch, I've done exactly what Nintendo mostly does with all of their series: I've put the protagonist in the exact place that I want them to be, the villains are returned and up to no good despite being defeated before, and there are some new characters here to assist the hero along the way. I know that Ridley's supposed to be dead and his clone is also supposed to be dead and all that, but the Metroid universe has approximately five characters at best (no, Adam doesn't count), so I'm working with what I have. Thank you, and enjoy the fic!

Samus’ heart pounded in her ears as she sprinted through the halls of the spaceship. She kept her footfalls as light as she could, given the circumstances. This was by far her most high-profile job in a while, and she also wanted to spend as little time on _this_ particular ship as she possibly could.

She was about to turn a corner when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Samus immediately lowered herself to minimize the noise she made while she stopped. Her head whipped upwards, and she found an air vent. There was always an air vent.

It was a bit too high up for her to reach in one leap, and the footsteps were too close for her Plasma Whip or her Jet Boots. Thinking quickly, Samus leapt - not directly upwards, but on a diagonal, kicking herself off the wall of the ship. One gloved hand managed to pry open the grate while the other was gaining purchase on the outside of the duct. Her leg shot out in front of her, and she winced as the grate painfully (but _silently_ ) swung into her leg. She had just barely stopped it from clanging against the ceiling.

She hung there for a moment. Then, in one fluid motion, she swung herself forwards and upwards, reaching up with her other hand to just barely catch on the inside of the duct. With both hands, she pulled herself inside, quickly reaching out to close the grate behind her.

 

The footsteps finally rounded the corner, and Samus allowed herself a moment to breathe. She watched as two large, monstrous creatures passed by. She noted that they held their weapons casually - they were actively guarding the area, but not on high alert.

Which meant she hadn’t been noticed yet.

Good.

 

Samus debated hopping back down out of the vent, but she heard another set of guards approaching in the distance before the previous pair’s footsteps had faded away. Apparently, she’d gotten close enough to the bridge that the guard rotations were far too tight for her to make any meaningful progress without alerting them. So it seemed that vent-crawling was the best way to go.

Samus resisted the urge to audibly sigh (as nice as it would feel, noise is noise), and began to crawl forward. The space was tight, but that wasn’t a problem for her. The toughest part was navigating the maze-like structure.

 

After a few minutes, Samus made her way to what she figured was the bridge. She wasn’t an expert on ship design, but she’d destroyed enough Space Pirate ships to know that the largest rooms were the ones that contained the Pirates’ leader. After all, Ridley was far too large for the average ship to comfortably fit him.

Samus almost immediately spotted the gigantic creature as he appeared to be controlling the ship. They’d fought several times before and she’d never been bested, but Ridley was still a terrifying space dragon. She reached deep inside herself and found the calm that Old Bird’s teachings had instilled within her. Soon, Ridley wasn’t the monster that had killed her parents and her teacher. He wasn’t Samus’ most persistent, most _personal_ foe. He was just an obstacle between Samus and her target.

And obstacles could be overcome.

Samus blasted out of the air vent, her Power Suit immediately manifesting around her. Ridley turned to blast fire from his maw, but the missile that Samus had already fired clashed with the attack before she did. The resulting explosion rocked the ship, and Ridley staggered into the ship’s console just before Samus’ armored foot collided with his face.

The kick was powerful, but its intent wasn’t just to harm. Ridley’s elongated jaw snapped sideways, allowing Samus to fly past him. As she did, her Plasma Whip wrapped around his throat. Samus landed, and pulled the dragon’s throat backwards, trying to topple him.

Ridley’s eye narrowed on Samus, and his tail lashed out at her, aiming right for her visor. Samus dodged the potentially lethal blow, and tried to grab Ridley’s tail with her free hand. Her fingers briefly found purchase, but it twisted out of her grip. The two battled back and forth in the deadly tug-of-war, Ridley’s tail trying to skewer Samus as she tried to pin it down.

Finally, Ridley got a bit too greedy (he always did) and tried to stab Samus through her left lung. She just barely moved her torso out of the way, and looped her left arm around Ridley’s tail as it passed her. The instant her fingers managed to trap the scaly appendage, she began to coil the tail around her arm, as if she were gathering up a very deadly rope. Now, with two strong tethers attached to the giant dragon, Samus put her foot against the half-destroyed console and began to pull.

Ridley toppled, screeching as he fell. His wings flapped wildly, briefly threatening to create a gale strong enough to pull Samus off her feet. However, her boot found purchase on one leathery wing, pinning it to the ground. Samus finally retracted her Plasma Whip, and immediately used her freed Arm Cannon to blast Ridley in the face.

Samus didn’t put _too_ much power into the shot, just enough to knock Ridley out of commission for a good while. If she destroyed the ship now, the resulting lack of atmosphere would definitely kill her target.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Penelope had finally finished counting all of the divots in her prison’s little ceiling. Eight thousand, four hundred and sixty-three, to be precise.

It’s not that she _wasn’t_ afraid for her life - she was, but one can only experience intense, persistent fear for so long before boredom begins to set in. Now out of things to do, Penelope resisted the urge to worry at her dress. The underlying petticoat was resting unevenly against her leg, which was irritating, but the fact that her wrists and ankles were fastened to the wall really prevented her from adjusting it. She could try to awkwardly wiggle her knee around and try to get the garment to settle, but that might make noise, and she had absolutely no desire to draw the attention of her captor. Speaking of…

Her eyes cautiously drifted to the enormous and terrifying creature that had quite literally snatched her from her family home and taken her prisoner. Penelope could still hear both of her fathers shout as the horrifying dragon and his crew had torn through her home world, killing indiscriminately in their hunt for her. Penelope’s stomach churned at the thought - all the lives lost, the people killed, the families torn apart… all for her.

She wanted to learn more about her captor, why it (he? they? she?) had taken her. It didn’t appear to just be a wild animal. After all, it was currently piloting a spaceship. But besides that, there was… an _intelligence_ to this creature’s cruelty. She had seen an animal hunt, and this creature’s actions were more. Something about how easily it had yanked her up from the ground from the ruins of her bedroom. It was almost… casual. Routine. She tried to shake the images from her mind, but she couldn’t help herself. She watched again in her memory, the dragon lifted her bed into the air with one clawed appendage, snatching her out from under it with the other. She saw its minions raid her possessions, one almost carefully pulling a ball gown out of her closet, the other turning her vanity upside-down and calmly collecting the makeup that tumbled out into a bag. Once they had hauled her onto their ship, she’d been forced to dry her tears and dress herself at gunpoint.

 

So, here she was. A prisoner in her own clothing and her own makeup, counting the divots on the ceiling to prevent herself from imagining whatever fate awaited her. Kidnapping was one thing, but the way that they had burned her home (and maybe killed her fathers, she realized with a fright) while still taking care to also steal her most… princess-y clothing implied that they had no intention of returning her. Penelope was too far down the rabbit hole to stop herself from wondering about her fate. Was she to be a slave? A trophy wife? Something in-between?

 

Penelope’s terrified imagination was suddenly interrupted by an incredibly loud _boom_. She yelped in surprise as an armor-clad warrior burst out of the ceiling. A second explosion, louder than the first, rocked the ship, as something collided with her captor’s fiery breath.

Penelope blinked, and the warrior had wrapped a brilliant blue-white tether around her captor. The whip seemed to be electrified and burning at the same time. She watched as the creature attempted to impale the warrior with its horribly sharp tail, the warrior deftly avoiding each strike before finally catching the appendage in one hand. The warrior then pulled the much larger creature over, and stepped on one of its wings. With one final shot from the warrior’s arm-mounted cannon, her captor was still. The warrior turned to face her, their visor an opaque, green mask.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Samus turned, her old enemy defeated once again. For the moment, anyways. Finally, she allowed herself to focus on the details of the bridge. Immediately, she noticed the girl.

 

They’d put her in a _dress_ , Samus noticed with disgust. She’d been gussied up like a princess, and she certainly had a face for one. Her hair seemed to be a natural pink, effortlessly matching the dress she wore. Her face (though currently frozen in an expression of abject shock) was angular, yet charming, as if it were _made_ to give a delighted smile. The cool green of her eyes was almost soothing, even despite the distance and the circumstances. For a moment, Samus could have sworn they had tiny flecks of gold. Samus saw much in those eyes, but behind the fear and surprise, she could just barely see it… hope.

Samus almost physically shook her head to clear it of the distraction. It didn’t matter what the girl looked like, Samus scolded herself, what mattered was to get her out of here. Samus looked around for controls to the girl’s prison, and located a control panel. She walked over to it and activated the keypad. Samus had almost begun to find a way to open the prison when she heard a noise.

 

Her head whipped around, and she saw Ridley - not _nearly_ as inconvenienced as she had hoped he would be. Rather than try to attack her while her back was turned, it seemed like he had instead entered something on what was left of the ship’s console. A siren went off, and Ridley sneered. Samus also looked to her left, and out the ship’s main window, she saw it. Ridley had somehow opened a wormhole.

 

Shit.

 

Samus quickly understood the reason behind Ridley’s sneer. He knew that her ship was likely parked somewhere nearby, but not exactly where. He also knew that Samus was powerful, but that there was no way that she could overpower both Ridley AND his entire crew. The wormhole would completely separate her from her ship. Ridley currently had _one_ captive… and Samus herself made two.

Samus turned back to the girl, and quickly gestured for her to prepare herself, and when the girl closed her eyes and turned her cheek, Samus whirled and kicked the glass as hard as she could.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Penelope realized that the armored warrior _was_ here to save her, but she also saw the dragon get up behind them. She was frozen by fear, she couldn’t even cry out. If she had, she wasn’t sure that the warrior could hear her. Before Penelope could overcome her paralyzing fear, the warrior noticed the creature, and pushed an open palm towards her, as if to say, “brace yourself.”

Penelope braced herself as much as she could, and she heard the shattering of glass. She felt one of the shards cut her cheek, and immediately her ears were filled with the blaring of some kind of alarm. An armor-clad hand grabbed her wrist restraint, and tore it off the wall. Penelope’s other three appendages were freed as the circuit was broken, and the same armor-clad hand was extended to her. She tried to look up at the warrior’s face, but the back of their helmet greeted her instead. Other than the offered hand, the warrior was solely focused on the winged monstrosity on the bridge, and was shooting at it.

 

Penelope took the hand.

 

Immediately, she was hefted onto the warrior’s curved shoulder plate as if she weighed almost nothing, and the warrior was sprinting down the hallway. Penelope faced backwards. For the slightest moment, she worried that anyone facing the warrior would be able to look up her skirt. The thought vanished as the dragon screeched and pursued them, wings flapping angrily. It took up the entire hallway as it flew towards them. Finally, Penelope found her voice. “It’s gaining on us,” she croaked, and the warrior simply turned mid-run to fire a missile behind them, pivoting once again to continue the sprint. She was dizzied, but she saw the missile collide with the dragon’s chest, and for a minute it was buried in the smoke from the explosion.

“You got him!” Penelope cheered.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Samus allowed herself a grin under her helmet. _Of course_ she’d gotten him, Ridley was huge and he didn’t do well in tight spaces. It was easy to tag him with a homing missile when he was practically the size of the hallway. Samus was _much_ more concerned about the literal army of Space Pirates that Ridley had summoned to their exact location.

That, and the fact that the Space Pirates’ ship was headed for a wormhole that would leave both of them completely stranded if she didn’t get them off of this ship _now_.

Right. One problem at a time.

 

Samus rounded a corner and was greeted by four Space Pirates, weapons drawn. They looked mean and very prepared to kill her, though Samus noticed that they weren’t getting ready to shoot at her. Perhaps they’d been informed not to harm the girl, or at least not to create any large explosions that would definitely kill her. Unfortunately, even without their projectile weapons, they were still very large, very strong creatures intent on stopping her, and Samus didn’t exactly have the time to stay and chat. If she got into any hand-to-hand combat, the girl was definitely going to get hurt, so all Samus could do was run and shoot.

 

Fortunately, running and shooting was her specialty, and each Space Pirate was gifted a lovely ball of hot plasma. They screeched as she sprinted past, some managing to swipe at her, but nothing even got close to damaging the girl or her Power Armor. Samus ran down another length of hallway, and turned the final corner towards the room she’d spotted on her way in: the escape pod bay.

 

However, even more Space Pirates blocked the way, and they were already charging at Samus. She also heard Ridley screeching behind her. She slowed her dead sprint to a quick jog and she took a calculated risk.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Penelope felt her savior slow down momentarily, and she started to panic again. Was the warrior tired? Had they finally succumbed to the terror of the situation, as Penelope had? Before Penelope could wonder anything more, she felt the warrior adjust their grip on her waist, and suddenly she was rising into the air. She looked (down? forward?) past her feet, and saw that she was rising above the head of one of her monstrous captors. She could feel the wind created by the swipe that it just barely missed.

Penelope’s mind barely registered that the warrior had just tossed her into the air like a javelin, over the monsters’ heads. Penelope couldn’t shut her eyes, and she saw that where the warrior should have been standing, there was a perfect sphere, precisely the same color as their armor. The sphere elegantly rolled between the monster’s legs, and to Penelope’s amazement, the sphere _stood up_ and once again took the armored form of her savior.

 

Penelope landed with a slight “ _oof"_ as the warrior deftly caught her, their left arm supporting her back and the cannon mounted on their right arm under her knees, resulting in an almost delicate bridal carry. The warrior picked up speed again as they sprinted to the end of the room, using the momentum from their run to heft Penelope into a cushioned chair. Her petticoat ate some of her momentum, but the landing was still pretty hard, and Penelope momentarily saw stars from the whiplash. She heard the warrior slam their hand against the wall of the small chamber, and a metal door slammed shut. Penelope heard the hum of engines, and her stomach flipped as the chamber began to move.

 

Penelope was at last filled with a feeling of momentary safety, but the warrior wasted no time, pushing past her in the tiny space to sit in a chair whose back was to her own. Penelope held her aching head as the warrior started to pilot their escape pod. She blinked several times to clear her head, going over the whirl of events that had just transpired. Numbly, she realized that the seat that she had been haphazardly tossed into had seatbelts, and she did her best to strap herself in. The remnants of her bindings were still attached to her wrists, which made her movements awkward, but Penelope moved as quickly as she could. If the warrior wasn’t resting yet then neither should she.

 

Once she was fully strapped in, Penelope finally allowed herself to breathe.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Samus began piloting the escape pod back to the asteroid where she’d left her ship. The Pirates would definitely be able to track their own escape pod, so she was pushing this tiny craft to its limits. Her gunship wasn’t  _too_ far, and their main ship seemed quite bulky and not built for turning on a dime, but Old Bird had taught her not to rest until she was certain that her mission was complete.

Samus’ mind was entirely focused on piloting, so she was a little bit surprised when a small, feminine voice behind her timidly spoke.

“Um… thank you! For saving me…” Samus’ concentration wavered for the slightest moment. Even if she hadn’t known anything about the girl, her dress was quite the clue that she wasn’t exactly battle-hardened. Against her better judgment, Samus split her focus and threw the girl a bone.

“You’re welcome,” Samus managed. Ugh, she was _not_ skilled with pleasantries. _‘You’re welcome,’_  she mocked herself in her head. _She’s thanking you for saving her life, not for giving her another cup of tea!_

 

“Um… if you don’t mind me asking…” the girl began. Samus sighed quietly to herself. She _did_ mind, she was piloting them away from certain death or worse, but she knew that it would likely take longer to convey that to answer the girl’s question, and silence would just make her even more traumatized than she already was.

The girl continued: “... er, may I ask your name?” Well, at least that answer was easy.

 

“I’m Samus Aran.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 _Samus Aran,_ Penelope repeated to herself. It felt like a magical incantation. She also couldn’t help but notice that her savior’s voice was deep, serious and, if Penelope was hearing it right… perhaps a little feminine?

“Samus Aran,” she repeated, this time out loud. She blushed at her social blunder, though she couldn’t see the armored warrior in their current position. “My name is Penelope Stargazer, Princess of Chora. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE/RANT: (this is a small detail but I wanted to write about it anyways, feel free to skip)
> 
> So, bit of backstory, I'm actually working on a cosplay of Zero Suit Samus (check me out, I'm @pixlh3art on Instagram!) and I was doing research about how to make her boots. APPARENTLY, Samus' Jet Boots were invented purely for the Super Smash Brothers franchise (specifically from Smash 4 to the present), and have NEVER appeared in any Metroid game.  
> However, the only other information I could find about Samus' footwear in the Zero Suit is from Metroid: Other M, where they just put her in normal, clunky, impractical heels (which says a LOT about that game all by itself), and since that's super dumb and the concept of Samus having jet boots that let her fly a little and kick people into the sky is objectively rad, so I am choosing to take Sakurai's design over a really bad one.  
> This is NOT a Smash fic, no Smash characters outside of the ones also in Metroid will appear in this fic (sorry straights, no Samus x Little Mac), but I am choosing to incorporate that aspect of her Smash design because it's objectively better and more respectful to Samus' legacy and characterization than random, non-weaponized high heels. They could have at LEAST just put her in combat boots. 
> 
> This is why NIntendo needs to just hire me and let me fix the writing in the Metroid series, smh...
> 
> -Red


	2. Getting to Know You...

Samus spent some time trying to think of how she should respond to what the gir-what Penelope had said. She was also very focused on piloting their escape pod to her waiting ship, and realized that minutes had passed since either of them had spoken. Her opportunity to respond to Penelope’s pleasantry totally gone, Samus chose to focus on the task at hand instead.

“When we dock with my gunship, we’re gonna have to move quickly,” Samus said, breaking the silence at last. “The Pirates can definitely track this dinky little thing, so they’re probably gaining on us.” Samus heard a frightened whimper at that, and realized that Penelope didn’t have the same information that she did. She tried to make her tone as soothing as possible, and continued, “It’s all right. We’ve almost made it to my ship, which is way faster than that clunky freighter. I just wanted to warn you that as soon as we dock, you’re gonna have to get up and move. No time to waste.”

Samus heard a slight bit of movement from behind her, as if the girl was shaking her head to psych herself up. “Got it,” Penelope said from behind her. The words had more confidence than Samus expected, and she liked that. “I’ll go as fast as I can, but this dress -” Samus felt their adjacent seats shift a little bit, Penelope had likely gestured to her remarkably impractical outfit “- isn’t exactly built for speed.”

Samus couldn’t help herself. She chucked. Even with everything that this poor, traumatized girl ( _and a PRINCESS, no less,_ Samus reminded herself) had been through, she was still managing to hold it together. “Don’t worry,” Samus said. “It’s just a ladder, no running required.”

But, to Samus’ frustration, Penelope seemed more concerned at this. “What if I fall?”

“I’ll catch you.” Samus replied instantly. She blinked at how quickly the words had just come tumbling out of her mouth. She’d heard the girl’s _name_ less than five minutes ago, and already she was making big promises. Samus reflected for a moment, noting that this was probably why she normally stayed so quiet. What was it about this girl that just pulled the conversation out of her?

“Okay. I trust you.” Penelope’s words snapped Samus out of her reflection like a whip. It was such a simple phrase. So small, so innocent. But Samus could feel the weight of those words on her shoulders.

It was all she could manage to say, “Get ready.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Get ready,” Samus said. Penelope’s heart rate doubled. Up until now, she’d essentially been dead weight for the armor-clad warrior. Now, she was being trusted with the slightest, most insignificant role in her own rescue and was still terrified that she’d mess it up, or somehow get in Samus’ way.

She felt their cramped escape pod slow down, and heard a loud _thunk_ as it docked with something. “ _My gunship,_ ” Samus’ voice echoed in her head. Well, whatever it was, it definitely beat her previous lodgings.

Samus was already out of her seat, moving past Penelope. _She’s so fast,_ Penelope remarked as the armor-clad figure stooped a little to try and activate the circular door. It wouldn’t budge, but Samus easily ripped it off its hinges and leaned it against the wall to Penelope’s left.  
Looking forward, Penelope realized that the ladder wasn’t as simple as she had thought. Apparently, their escape pod was now hanging at a 90-degree angle, and the ladder to Samus’ gunship was parallel to the floor of their escape pod. Penelope dimly realized that her seat belt was so tight because it was all that kept her from falling down into the ship.

She also heard the sound of laser fire. Peeking over her shoulder, Penelope saw several blasts shoot off into space, just past the escape pod’s cockpit window. It seemed that the Pirates had caught up to them.

Samus had already slid down the ladder, a practiced move. Penelope looked down at her (at this point, Penelope was certain that Samus was indeed a “her”), and her non-cannon arm was already extended out to her. “It’s okay!” Samus shouted. “Jump!”

Penelope was terrified, but she refused to let fear stop her now. Not when they were so close. _Well, that,_ she admitted to herself, _and because you don’t want to disappoint her._

  
Penelope shook off the intrusive thought and pressed the release button on her seatbelt. She began to scream as she fell, the wind rushing around her, pushing the skirt of her ridiculous dress all the way up around her.

She felt a strong, confident metal hand catch her, wrapping around her legs.  Her scream cut out, and the dress settled around Samus’ arm.

“Nice jump, Princess,” Samus remarked, and Penelope’s cheeks _immediately_ began to burn. The blush began to fade as she saw Samus’ other arm (the one with the cannon) pointed back at the escape pod, and a glowing ball of white-hot plasma slowly growing from its mouth.

“Red button, on your left,” Samus said, eerily calm despite the increasing volume of the surrounding laser fire. “Press it on three. Got it?”

Penelope frantically searched, but was able to find the button, and it was thankfully within arm’s reach. “I see it!”

“One,” Samus began to count. Penelope stole a glance at her arm-mounted cannon, and the ball of plasma was already twice its previous size. “Two,” Samus yelled. Penelope looked up at what she was shooting at - One of the Space Pirates’ ships had made it to them, and was now pointed _directly_ at them, visible through the escape pod’s window. Penelope remembered her task and looked back at the button.

“ _T_ _hree!”_ Samus yelled, and Penelope heard a distinct _krhsoom_ as the enormous ball of plasma leapt out from Samus’ cannon. She slammed her entire fist against the button, and she was able to get the briefest glimpse of the shot breaking the escape pod off of Samus’ gunship, which then flew out into space and collided with the Space Pirate ship before the airlock door slammed shut, protecting them from the vacuum of space.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Samus took a breath. That was the only ship on her immediate radar (the Pirates had more ships, she knew, but they’d likely been disappointed to find many of them mysteriously disabled). Regardless, they definitely shouldn’t dawdle.

 _Also,_ a small voice in her head noted, _your hand is firmly clamped on the Princess’ royal undergarments._ Samus looked to the princess she was still holding, and realized that her dress had fallen around Samus’ arm, leaving nothing but a thin piece of fabric between her armored glove and the princess’ rear.

Was that a tiny bit of heat that Samus felt on her cheeks? Flustered, she hastily put Penelope down, and moved towards the cockpit of her gunship. She hopped into her chair, and began starting the ship’s engines and preparing to navigate them out of this particular corner of space.

“Is… is that it? Are we safe?” A feminine voice asked from behind her. Samus nearly jumped.

 

Samus Aran was a lot of things. She was incredibly strong, intelligent, observant, and above all, _resilient_. She had survived several encounters that would have easily killed any other bounty hunter dozens of times over.

But _flustered…_ that was definitely an entirely new feeling for her.

“Almost,” Samus responded. “Hang on to something, we’re getting out of here.” She was trying to push, well… _whatever_ it was that she was feeling down to focus on flying. She heard Penelope’s footsteps this time, moving away from her. Samus mused that she was probably searching for something to hold on to. Her ship only had one seat in the cockpit, which Samus actually slightly regretted for once.

No time to reflect on that now, though. “All set back there?” Samus yelled over her shoulder. In reply, she heard a nervous sound of affirmation, something between “yep!” and “mmhmm!” as if Penelope had tried to say both at the same time.

 _Close enough,_ Samus thought, and she punched it. The hunter-class gunship roared and blasted off into the stars.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Penelope braced herself against the table of the tiny kitchenette she’d found as the ship’s engines flared to life. She realized dimly that she wasn’t experiencing _that_ much g-force. She’d felt more when the Space Pirates’ ship had left her planet’s atmosphere, but her knuckles were white all the same. Her eyes clenched shut, and she tried to think about anything but space travel. Counting had worked in her cell, so she decided to just counted up in her head until she ran out of numbers.

 

She’d reached pretty far into the thousands when she heard something in front of her. Penelope allowed one eye to sneak open, and she recognized Samus’ helmet looking right at her.

“...’s all right.” She heard as she tuned in to what Samus was saying. “Hey. Princess. The pirates are gone now, okay? You’re safe now.”

Slowly, Penelope managed to relax a tiny bit, and reluctantly let go of the table. She was impressed that she hadn’t crushed it in her fingers. Numbly, she looked up at Samus. She still couldn’t unclench her jaw.

“I have jump seats, you know,” Samus joked. “They’re between the cockpit and the docking ladder. You didn’t have to attach yourself to my kitchen table.” Penelope snorted at the remark, but still wasn’t able to get any words to make it to her mouth.

“Here,” Samus said gently, bringing her hands up to her helmet. Penelope heard something click, and her eyes widened.

 

Samus shook out her long blond ponytail, now free from the confines of her helmet. She carefully placed it on the table next to Penelope, then lowered herself so that they could see eye-to-eye.

Fireworks went off in Penelope’s head, her brain absolutely short-circuited by the woman in front of her. Her eyes hungrily drank in every detail of Samus’ face. Her gorgeous (and surprisingly long) blond hair, the bangs left out of her ponytail neatly framing her face. High cheekbones, an elegant, noble chin, with the most _adorable_ beauty mark Penelope had ever seen. She nearly lost herself in Samus’ piercing, determined blue eyes. Fortunately, she just barely managed to move her gaze down to Samus’ petite, delightfully pink lips.

Lips, she realized, which were moving.

 

“So, ah, let’s start again. I’m Samus Aran. Princess Stargazer, right? From… Chore-ah?” Thoroughly embarrassed, Penelope collected her metaphorical jaw from the floor and quickly spoke, ignoring the rising heat in her cheeks.  
“Just ‘Penelope’ is fine,” she said, retreating into her royal politeness. “And not to be rude, but it’s ‘Chora,’ like the word ‘chorus.’”

“Ah, I see,” Samus replied. “My apologies, Prin-er, Penelope.”

“No apology necessary,” Penelope replied gracefully, her royal persona now fully returning to her. “Indeed, I should be thanking you, for saving me.”

At that, Samus shyly put her hand behind her head, looking away. “Don’t, ah… don’t mention it. It’s what I do!” Penelope examined her for a moment. Was she… _nervous?_ Penelope had made a fool of herself just seconds ago, but now Samus appeared to be the one out of her element. Did she not meet other people very often? Penelope was curious, but didn’t pry. It wouldn’t be very ladylike of her to ask such things of her savior.

 

“Regardless, I am very grateful. I don’t know _what_ terrible fate would have befallen me if not for you!” Samus seemed almost uncomfortable with the praise. Penelope was further intrigued, and decided to tone down the royalty a bit.

“Really, don’t mention it,” Samus said. “I got your planet’s distress signal, tracked down the Pirates, and got you out of there.” She paused, and gave a weak smile. “You know. Tuesdays.”

 _She’s remarkable,_ Penelope thought to herself. Despite the harrowing, near-death situation they’d been through, Samus seemed entirely nonplussed.

Suddenly, Penelope tasted iron in her mouth. Her hand went to her cheek, feeling the cut on her face from when Samus had broken her out of her prison. “Oh,” she said absentmindedly. “I’m bleeding.” Samus’ back was already turned, halfway out of the room. Penelope sat there for a moment, bewildered at her wordless exit before the warrior returned, a medical kit and what looked like a welding torch in her hand.

Samus laid the kit and the torch-like implement on the table, opening the kit first. She produced some gauze and disinfectant, reaching out to wipe the blood from Penelope’s face. Penelope made a little surprised noise as the warrior began to work. She tried not to blush as Samus’ strong fingers pressed against her cheek.

Not moving her head, Penelope glanced down at the other implement. “Er, you’re not going to have to operate, are you?” She asked, only half-joking.

“Hm? Oh,” Samus said. She’d been absorbed in her task before Penelope spoke. “No, you’ll be fine. It’s a really thin cut, and not too deep either. If it was any worse, you’d have noticed it sooner. It'll heal in an hour or two.” Samus’ eyes immediately returned to the gauze that she was delicately taping over Penelope’s face.

“Then… what’s that for?” She asked, not moving to gesture to the metal tool that Samus had brought with her so that she didn’t disturb the warrior’s task.

“Oh, it’s for your shackles.” Samus said. Penelope realized that she’d also forgotten about _those_ until just now. “I would’ve preferred to cut you out when we were on the ship, but Ridley didn’t exactly give me the time.” She sat back for a moment, studying Penelope’s face - just examining her bandage, Penelope realized. Why did that disappoint her?

Samus nodded to herself, content with her handiwork. She closed the medical kit and took up the device she would apparently use to cut Penelope free. Penelope put on a brave face, and extended Samus her right hand first. The warrior placed her armored palm underneath the metal binding, and attached the welding implement to her arm cannon. The tool flickered to life, a small jet of flame eagerly sparking from its mouth. Penelope’s brave face began to waver a little.

“Don’t worry, I’ve never burned anyone with a plasma cutter.” Samus said. “This one is really delicate, so you don’t need eye protection or anything. It’s meant to cut into armor like mine without damaging the person underneath, for emergency medical stuff. You won’t feel a thing, I promise.”

 

* * *

 

Penelope smiled at Samus, still a little nervous, but reassured. Samus tried to ignore all the promises that she’d been so easily making. She was about to start cutting when she heard Penelope say, “Okay. I trust you.”

 _There it is again,_ she thought to herself. _Why? Why does she ALREADY_   _trust me?_ She pushed the concern aside, and began to delicately cut into the thick material on the princess’ wrist.

 

* * *

 

 

Two cuts on opposite sides, and the circular cuff fell neatly in half. Penelope rubbed at her wrist, finally free, then presented her other wrist to Samus, who began the process again.

“So, if you don’t mind my asking,” Penelope said, talking over the quiet sound of the cutter, “where are we headed?”

“To Chora,” Samus said. “I’m taking the scenic route to avoid the Pirates, but I think we’ve seen the last of them for now.”

“So they are the Space Pirates, then?” Penelope asked. “What do you think they wanted with me?”

“I, ah… I wouldn’t imagine it, if I were you.” Samus replied. “I haven’t known Ridley to be the type to… well, to return hostages.”

Well, that was sobering. It confirmed some of Penelope’s fears, and made her all the more grateful for Samus’ intervention. Another minute passed, and the second wrist cuff fell off as well, just as neatly as the first. Penelope sighed in relief.

“Now, er, I think I saw cuffs on your ankles, too…” Samus began. Penelope winced at the inherent discomfort in the situation. Normally, she’d rather be caught _dead_ than point the bottoms of her feet at somebody. It was horribly rude, and she could feel her fathers scolding her, but it couldn't be helped. She kicked off her shoes, and pulled her legs up, onto the bench with her. Fortunately, the bench was L-shaped, so Penelope sat in the corner, the edges of her feet hanging off of the shorter end. Samus got down on one knee and began cutting once more.

Penelope had never felt so unladylike. She looked off to her right, knowing that if she met Samus’ gaze, the situation would be even more horribly awkward than it already was. The silence weighed on both of them, until Penelope couldn’t take it anymore. “So…” Penelope began. “You said that this was what you do? Rescuing princesses from dragons?” Samus chucked at that, and Penelope watched out of the corner of her eye as Samus’ shoulders relaxed a little.

“Not as such,” she replied. “I’m a bounty hunter. I answer distress signals, track down wanted criminals, take jobs from the Federation, that sort of thing. This particular mission is a little… different, I suppose, but every job has its quirks.”

Penelope smiled. “Different how? Do you frequently find yourself using a plasma cutter on a lady’s ankles?” Samus chuckled and Penelope giggled along.

“No,” the bounty hunter replied. “This is a first, even for me.” The first shackle clanged to the floor, and Penelope resisted the urge to shake out her foot,  afraid she’d kick Samus in the face. “How about you?” Samus asked. “Do you often find yourself kidnapped?”

“Absolutely not,” Penelope replied. “This is my first kidnapping, and hopefully my last.”

Samus hummed along in agreement.

“Though… if I _were_ to do it again,” Penelope began, as if she were referring to attending a performance or taking a spa day and not her own kidnapping, “I’d prefer a larger cell, and better catering.” Samus laughed heartily at that, and Penelope blushed a little with pride.

“Is that _all_ you’d want to improve?” Samus asked. “You wouldn’t rather be kidnapped by someone less... pointy? Less ugly?” Penelope giggled, delighted that Samus was also enjoying the conversation.

“I suppose one doesn’t really get to _choose_ her kidnapper,” Penelope mused, making as much light of the objectively horrible experience as she could. “Besides, I actually thought that the rescue was rather nice.” With that, the last shackle clanked to the floor. Penelope gathered up the remnants of the cuffs that were on the table, and she heard Samus do the same with those on the floor. Samus dragged a small trash can over across the floor, and the two dumped the heavy pieces of metal inside.

 

“Here,” Samus said, standing up. Penelope dimly realized that the warrior had just been crouching in front of her the whole time, and sent a mental apology to Samus’ knees. When the woman drew herself up to her full height, Penelope noticed that Samus had to be well over six feet tall - eight inches taller than her, easily. “While we’re in the kitchen, let me get you some water. I’m sure you’re thirsty after all that.” Penelope watched Samus, this gorgeous, powerful warrior, casually lean over a bit to open up the kitchenette’s small refrigerator. She was fascinated by the incredible woman undertaking such a mundane task.

Samus returned to the table with a bottle of water in her armored hand, placing it before Penelope. The princess opened it immediately, and drank half the contents in one greedy swig. She heard Samus let out the softest chuckle as she dramatically gasped for air after putting the bottle back down.

“Sorry,” Samus said, noting the awkward energy between them. “I’m not exactly used to…”

“Princesses in your kitchen?” Penelope hazarded, gesturing to herself. Samus laughed again. Her laugh was so bright, so warm.

“I was going to say ‘guests,’” the armor-clad woman replied with a smile. The silence hung between them for a moment, and Penelope felt a little ridiculous sitting down in Samus’ kitchen while Samus herself stood up across from her. Penelope scooted herself around the corner of the L-shaped bench, gesturing for Samus to sit, so she would have the shorter section all to herself. “Here,” Penelope said as she patted the bench with one hand, “don’t let little old me keep you from sitting down in your own kitchen.”

Samus laughed yet again, to Penelope’s delight. She took a step over to the refrigerator, grabbing another water bottle for herself, and sat down where Penelope had gestured.

Samus’ armor clanked softly as she sat, and Penelope didn’t feel quite as ridiculous in her giant, floofy dress. She decided to try another conversation topic.

 

“So, do you wear that armor all the time?” Penelope asked once Samus had settled.

“Hm? Oh, no.” The warrior replied. “It’s like a second skin, so I often forget I’m wearing it. One second.”

Penelope watched as Samus closed her eyes to concentrate for a moment, and the orange and red armor began to glow before it suddenly vanished, leaving Samus in a skintight ( _V_ _ery skintight,_ said one part of Penelope’s brain, which she elected to ignore) blue bodysuit, with softly glowing pink accents on her back, the backs of her hands, and just above her left breast.

“This is how I dress when I’m not getting shot at,” Samus joked. Penelope giggled. She was delighted that she’d gotten Samus to open up to her a little.

“Well, _this_ is how _I_ dress when I’m being kidnapped by Space Pirates,” Penelope replied wittily. Both women laughed at that.

 

* * *

 

Samus took a moment to really look at her guest for the first time since she’d kicked open her prison. Penelope’s silky pink hair cascaded down her neck in large waves and curls, just past her shoulders. Her mouth was still turned up into the most _beautiful_ smile, laughing along with their conversation. Her lips looked _so_ soft, like gorgeous little pillows on her face. Her eyes were closed in laughter, but as they opened again, the radiant warmth from their delicate, gold-flecked green reminded Samus of the long-gone homes that she’d barely known. As Penelope’s head tilted up at Samus’ latest joke, she noticed that Penelope’s dress left her neckline invitingly exposed. The princess had the most elegant collar bones that Samus had ever seen.

She didn’t often meet other humans, _especially_ other women. But even in such a small sample size, Penelope was definitely an exceptionally beautiful woman. Maybe the most beautiful woman that Samus had ever met.

She realized that her cheeks were growing warm again. She had _never_ felt like this, but something about Penelope just pulled it out from her. She seemed to effortlessly draw out Samus’ personality, which she had spent years covering with thick layers of training as a soldier and bounty hunter. The thought of someone like Penelope, such a naturally gorgeous girl, being delighted to converse with her... it made Samus blush even harder.

Samus’ initial reaction was to force down the emotion, to stop feeling anything and concentrate only on the mission. But she realized that for once, there wasn’t really much of a mission to focus on. Yes, technically she was escorting the princess back to her home planet, and that _would_ take a few days, but her ship was navigating itself there. She could theoretically enter cryosleep for that amount of time, which is what she normally did between missions, but it made very little sense to do so for less than a week. Scenic route or no, she’d managed to catch up to the Space Pirates before they’d made it _too_ far away from Chora.

 _And besides,_ Samus thought to herself. _I have a guest._

 

“Er… Samus?” Penelope asked, snapping the bounty hunter out of her own thoughts.

“Yes?” She asked, blinking a few times in a row. “Sorry, I must have spaced out for a moment.”

“It’s okay,” Penelope said gently. “You didn’t miss anything. I just wanted to ask… do you have, well… any place that I could perhaps wash myself? I’ve been in this dress for days now, and the Space Pirates didn’t strike me as the type of folk who would give a lady her privacy while bathing.”

“Oh, of course!” Samus replied. “I, ah… I have a shower on the ship. I’m afraid it’s no royal bath house or anything, but you’re welcome to it.”

Penelope smiled. “Trust me,” she said, leaning over, as if she were telling Samus a secret. “After what I’ve been through, even your kitchen sink would feel like a royal bath house.” Samus couldn’t help but laugh at that. She was frankly amazed at how well Penelope was handling the whole thing. Perhaps she’d just been pushed far enough, and was refusing to let the awful events of the last few days own her. Either way, Samus was impressed. Somewhere, deep in her heart, she felt a little bit… proud.

Which was absolutely ridiculous. She didn’t really _know_ Penelope. It’s not like Samus had taught her anything. Why would she feel _pride_ , of all things, for the girl? They hardly knew each other! Samus shook the thoughts out of her head before they pulled her any further down _that_ nonsensical rabbit hole.

“Follow me, I’ll take you downstairs to the bathroom.” Samus stood, and offered Penelope a hand. She expected her to take it like one would accept a handshake, but Penelope surprised her by placing her hand palm down, fingers first, into Samus’, like Samus was a royal attendant helping her down the stairs.

 _Or,_ Samus’ mind whispered, _like you were a suitor offering her a dance._

 _Shut it,_ she replied. _She’s a princess, she probably takes everybody’s hand like that_.

 

Samus led Penelope through her ship, over to a different ladder than the one that they’d descended to enter it. This one was smaller and had more rungs. Samus began to climb down, having done so plenty of times. Penelope followed, not nearly as quickly. Samus realized that through _everything_ they’d done that day - the Space Pirates, the sprint down the hallway, Samus tossing her into the air, the escape pod, and even their pleasant conversation in her kitchen, Penelope had done all of it in a modest pair of heels. She shook her head in disbelief. _Now THAT is a princess,_ she thought. She idly looked up, to check on Penelope’s progress down the ladder, and immediately regretted it. She snapped her head back down the moment she realized that she was looking up Penelope’s skirts.

She hadn’t seen anything, really, but the sheer _concept_ of being so disrespectful made Samus furious with herself. She was a professional, dammit. She had to remember that, no matter _how_ oddly comfortable this girl made her feel.

With a delicate _click-click,_ Penelope’s heels landed on the ship’s metal floor, one at a time. She turned around, a proud expression on her face. “This ladder is much easier,” she declared. Samus chuckled. “Things tend to get easier when nobody’s shooting at you,” she joked.

“Mm.” Penelope agreed. It was such a simple, noncommittal sound, but something about the way it left her mouth - the _comfort_ that it conveyed - almost made Samus start to blush again.

“Er, the bathroom’s right over there,” Samus said, pointing to an open door immediately towards the back of the ship. It was only a few feet away. “Feel free to use anything in there, the towels should be clean and all that.”

“Thank you very much for your hospitality,” Penelope said, dipping into a very slight curtsy towards Samus. She was tempted to respond in kind, but she hadn’t the slightest clue how, so she ended up just lightly inclining her head towards the princess.

Penelope turned and entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Samus had one hand on the rung of the ladder, ready to go back up, but she stopped when the door opened again. “Samus?” Penelope asked, her head poking out of the threshold.

“Yes, Penelope?” Samus asked, curious.

“You wouldn’t happen to have, ah, something for me to change into, would you?”

Right.

“Um, let me see if I have something in your size,” Samus replied, almost certain that she didn’t. After all, she was 6’3”, and this girl seemed to just barely hit 5’7”. Samus hopped back off the ladder and turned a corner, walking past the bathroom into her scarcely-used bedchamber.

Most of her time was spent in cryosleep, and she very rarely needed to use an actual, proper bed. But the ship had come with one, and inside were some drawers that Samus _also_ didn’t use, because the Zero Suit was the only clothing she wore that she didn’t manifest from her very being. And because the Zero Suit was a technological marvel that was perfectly cleaned by cryosleep fluid or a shower, Samus didn’t really have the need to own more than one.

 _You do, though,_ Samus realized, as she opened one of the drawers in the ship’s bedchamber. She honestly didn’t even think of it as “her” bedroom. Sure enough, under a few miscellaneous trinkets (the spare bed sheets that she had never touched), Samus found her old Zero Suit. She’d worn it when she was younger, before she’d gotten too tall for it. The suits _did_ grow alongside the wearer to some extent, but you can only stretch fabric like that for a foot or so, no matter how advanced it was. She hadn’t even remembered that the old suit existed for several years. She also couldn’t begin to imagine what had possessed her to hold on to it back then, but she was thankful for it now.

She pulled it out of the drawer and began to walk down the hallway with it, returning to Penelope. On her way, Samus realized that the suit was _terribly_ dusty from being folded up in that drawer for, well… adding the time she’d spent in cryosleep, at least a decade.

She shrugged. It would have to do. Her hand wrapped around the handle of the bathroom door, but she stopped herself just before pulling it open, because she could hear the faucet running from the other side.

Right. There was another human being on the ship. She was still getting used to that.

Samus knocked lightly on the bathroom door, and waited, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. “Just a minute!” Penelope’s voice rang out from behind the door, almost like a song, over the sound of the faucet. The sound stopped, and another moment passed. Penelope opened the door, her face looking noticeably brighter. Samus realized that she’d cleaned her makeup off, and she couldn’t imagine how long Penelope had been wearing it. Even this relatively small improvement had done wonders for the princess’ disposition.

“Ah, here,” Samus said, offering Penelope the garment in her hands a little too quickly. “Sorry, it’s, uh, all I’ve really got.” Samus watched as Penelope’s eyes immediately ran over the old Zero Suit, as if she could see every single speck of dust. “It used to be mine, before I grew out of it,” Samus hastily explained. “It’s old, I know, but it’s self-cleaning. Just run some water over it, and it’ll be good as new. I promise.” _Promises, promises,_ she scolded herself. _You’re saying too much! Just give it to her already!_  
Penelope slowly took the garment from Samus’ hands, careful not to disturb the dust from its surface. “Thank you,” she said graciously, as if Samus had offered her a choice between the finest dresses in the galaxy, and not her dusty old combat suit.

“No problem,” Samus said. “Keep it, er, as long as you like. “ Penelope nodded, her smile so natural, so easy. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

“Thank you,” Penelope said again. “I’ll see you after I’ve washed up.”

“Right,” Samus said, nodding.

It immediately became apparent that neither woman knew how to bid the other farewell.

 

An uncomfortably long silence hung between the pair, before Samus finally broke it, saying “Well! Enjoy your shower!” She turned on her heel, taking three very long strides to the ladder.

“Thank you!” Penelope awkwardly called after her, closing the door.

 

As soon as the other was out of sight, both women held their heads in their hands, somewhere between mortified and helplessly infatuated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: "how tough am I? how tough am I? I wrote this chapter in one night."  
> You: "Yeah, so?"  
> Me: "Chapter 3 is gonna come out tomorrow"
> 
> In all seriousness, thanks for sticking with me! I'm not joking though, barring a catastrophe, Chapter 3 will be up tomorrow. It' s mostly written, but I'm trying to stay a chapter ahead. I feel as though Sappho herself is pulling this tale of space lesbians out of me as I write it, so I'm gonna ride this train of incredible work ethic for as long as it'll take me. I hope you all love these two as much as I do!
> 
> -Red


	3. ... Getting to Know All About You

Penelope finally recovered from the embarrassment of her pathetic social blunder and shed her dress. She haphazardly hung the poor, wrinkled garment on the hook that was attached to the bathroom’s door, apologizing to the dress for all that it had been through. She left her petticoat in a pile on the floor, totally unable to summon the effort to hang it up properly.

She stepped over the garment that Samus had provided her, and leaned into the shower. She had also removed the gauze that Samus had applied to the wound on her face, and was relieved to feel that it had already mostly healed. The wonders of modern medicine.

It took Penelope a moment to discover how to turn the water on, and how to adjust the temperature, but soon she had it figured out. She was about to step in when she remembered that Samus had told her how to clean the suit that she’d given to her. “Just add water, huh…” Penelope muttered to herself, picking up the garment from the floor and allowing it to unfold itself as she lifted it.

She reached into the shower and allowed the water to run over the suit. The dust left with it, and the garment seemed to be in remarkably better shape already. “Well, that’s certainly handy,” she muttered again to herself. She also noticed that this suit was a bit of a brighter color than the one that Samus currently wore - Samus’ suit was light blue, but hers ( _Oh, it’s already “yours” now, is it?_ her subconscious taunted, but she ignored it) was an even brighter cyan, and it didn’t have as many accents as Samus’ did, mainly just the pink pattern on the back. “That’s good,” she said aloud. “I’d hate to be seen wearing the same outfit as another girl.”

Chuckling at her own foolishness, Penelope folded the garment in half over a towel rack and stepped into the shower. The next forty-five minutes were absolute bliss.

 

Penelope finally turned off the shower, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She sighed happily, delighting in the feeling of being finally clean after spending days in that filthy Space Pirate freighter. She also loved how her hair smelled, as she’d borrowed Samus’ shampoo and her conditioner. She’d been a little surprised at the warrior’s dedication to quality hair care, though she supposed that that magnificent ponytail didn’t wash itself.

She reached for a towel, put her hair up inside it, and stepped out onto the bath mat. After toweling off her body, she searched around briefly and managed to locate a hairdryer. As a rule, Penelope tried to avoid heat-treating her hair, but she would also rather drop dead than let Samus see her with it still wet.

Twenty minutes later, and Penelope’s hair was sufficiently dry, if a bit frizzy. She carefully replaced the hairdryer and hung up her towels, trying not to make _too_ much of a mess of Samus’ bathroom. “Now, then,” she said, turning to the suit that Samus had left her, “do you have, like, a zipper or something…?”

 

* * *

 

 

Samus was going over the ship’s navigation again, making sure that she had Chora’s coordinates right for the twelfth time. She had told herself that she was fixing the route that she’d hastily charted while they were escaping the Pirates, but she knew that she’d made her last meaningful adjustment half an hour ago. She was about to check the route from the beginning _again_ when she heard the sound of hands and boots on a ladder. Penelope.

Samus turned and got up from her ship’s chair, stretching her back as she stood. “Samus?” Penelope called.

“Here,” she replied, leaving the cockpit to meet her. Samus turned the corner and their eyes met, and both women stopped dead in their tracks. Samus looked Penelope up and down, and Penelope’s brain lost most of its functionality under Samus’ gaze. “So, how do I look?” She asked, looking away and subconsciously playing with her hair.

A hundred phrases leapt into Samus’ mind. _“Beautiful,” “enchanting,” “radiant.”_ The Zero Suit hugged Penelope’s every curve like a lover, accentuating every slight detail of her gorgeous body. Samus had never seen anyone else in a Zero Suit (they were custom-made for her, after all) and she was utterly flabbergasted by how it seemed to fit Penelope like a glove. The color suited her brilliantly, too. Her pink hair blended with the cyan of the suit into the most beautiful pastel painting that Samus had ever seen.

“You look…” Samus began. _Spectacular!_ Her brain shouted. _Gorgeous! Absolutely fantastic!_ “You look great,” she managed. Samus almost immediately kicked herself mentally for such a weak response to Penelope’s honest question, but the princess smiled all the same. “Feeling any better?”

“Oh, _so_ much better, thank you,” Penelope said, practically giggling with delight. “Best shower of my life.”

Samus grinned. “Well, I can’t promise that dinner will be as wonderful, but I’ll try my best.”

 

The two chatted as Samus prepared their meal. It was very simple. Just frozen provisions, really. Samus rehydrated the meal and began to cook it, genuinely enjoying Penelope’s company as she did.

Penelope told Samus about her fathers, how strict they were with teaching her her princessly duties, but how loving they were whenever she needed them. Samus talked about her various missions, explaining the  _several_ times that she’d killed Ridley over the years. Penelope seemed to grow even more confident in Samus with each tale of the Space Pirate’s defeat, which filled Samus herself with confidence in turn. Once they had really dug deep into the small talk, it became a bit more personal. Penelope told Samus about how her fathers had nearly married her off to a man before she’d told them that she only liked girls. Samus even opened up a little bit about her parents, or what little she remembered of them, and of Old Bird, the wise Chozo that had taken her in and trained her.

 

* * *

 

“So, lemme get this straight,” Penelope said of Ridley. “He killed your parents, and destroyed your home planet, _and_ _then_ he killed the father figure who adopted you after all that, but it was _you_ who destroyed the planet where you grew up?”

“Mhm,” Samus nodded, taking a sip of water. “He, the Pirates, and Mother Brain had completely taken over Zebes. When I blew up their underground base, the rest of the planet sorta went with it. I barely got out in time.”

Penelope shook her head, absolutely floored by Samus’ incredible life. She talked about destroying entire _planets_ full of evildoers like it was the second most impressive thing she’d done that year.

“That’s just… so incredible,” Penelope said, impressed, but trying not to border on reverent. She’d already seen how Samus felt about hero worship. “Here you are talking about saving the whole galaxy and I’m just complaining about my silly old court life.” She shook her head again. “I must be terribly boring for you.”

Samus was taken aback, almost a little insulted. “What? No, I’m really enjoying your stories, honest!” Penelope raised an eyebrow at the statement, but Samus doubled down. “Seriously! Hearing about someone have an argument with her dads instead of dying tragically because of the X-Parasite is the reason that I do all of this.” She took another sip of her water. “That, and I just can’t resist the chance to blast the hell out of that big scaly jackass.”

 

Both of them laughed. “Well, if you ever see him again, shoot some plasma at him for me. ” Penelope joked. “The bastard put claw holes in my expensive linens!” Samus chuckled, then sighed.

“Oh, I’ll see him again, in one form or another. I’ve killed him plenty of times before, but he almost always manages to show up again. Cybernetically enhanced, genetically reconstructed, whatever. I swear, space is infinite, but it’s also gotta be absolutely tiny,” she said.

“Perhaps it’s just fated that you two continue to fight,” Penelope joked. She lifted her hand into the air and looked at the wall, painting an imaginary picture. “Star-crossed lovers, destined to meet on opposite sides of battle over and over again…”

Samus immediately made a retching sound.

“Ugh,” she scoffed. “Men.”

They both looked at each other for a moment with matching grins, and simultaneously burst into hysterics, laughing until their sides hurt.

 

* * *

 

“What time is it?” Penelope asked, yawning. “I think I’m about ready to sleep for a year.”

“Time’s relative up here,” Samus said, putting away the dish that she had just dried. “You can just sleep when you’re tired.”

“No bedtimes in space, huh?” Penelope joked. Samus chuckled.

“Nope,” she replied. “At least not on  _my_ ship.”

“Thank goodness I got saved by you, then, and not some  _other_ half-Chozo bounty hunter.”

“Hey! I’m still _mostly_ human, and I’ll have you know that I’m also technically part Metroid.”

Both of them laughed again, and Samus smiled to herself at the rapport that they’d developed. She hadn’t truly _talked_ with anyone like this, not since… well, not in a very, very long time.

“So, ah…” Penelope began. “Does the ship have a bedroom, or…”

“It does. It’s by the bathroom. Here, I’ll show you.” Samus stowed her last dish and let Penelope follow her down the ladder again.

“It’s just down the hall,” she said, gesturing to where she’d left the door ajar.

“Okay!” Penelope said. “Wait, is… is it _your_ bedroom, or…”

“Hm? Oh, no,” Samus replied once she understood the question. “I haven’t slept there in years, but I changed the sheets while you were in the shower. It’s all yours.” She turned to leave, but Penelope stood her ground, which gave Samus pause.

“Okay, but… where are you gonna sleep? This ship doesn’t look like it has two bedrooms…” Samus was touched by Penelope’s genuine concern for her. She’d almost always had no one to care for her but herself, and it was even _more_ surprising that the first apparent exception to that rule in a long time was a bona fide princess.

“I’ll be fine, I promise. Like I said, I haven’t used that room in years. I normally enter cryosleep for this sort of thing…” Samus noticed Penelope’s concern at that - maybe it was the prospect of being left alone? “... but I can sleep in the ship’s cockpit for a few days. The chair is really comfortable, I promise.” She smiled at Penelope, almost confused at why she was working so hard to put the princess’ mind at ease. After all, this was definitely an unusual job, but that was just it. A job. After they got back to Chora, Penelope would be reunited with her family, continue on with her normal life, and Samus would move on as she always did. It was just a job.

Wasn’t it?

 

“Okay… if you’re sure…” Penelope said.

“I’m sure.” Samus nodded. “Get some rest. You’ve had quite a day.”

Penelope looked like she wanted to protest - Samus was still baffled by the princess’ concern for her well-being, of all things - but she was betrayed by her own body yawning. Samus just gave her a look, as if to say, “See?” and Penelope finally relented, turning around to enter the bedroom.

 

Samus made her way up the ladder as quietly as she could, determined to give Penelope her space. After all, she’d likely spent the last several days constantly being looked at by at least one Space Pirate, if not more. Samus couldn’t imagine how much sleep she’d had in that time, but she figured that “not much” was a safe assumption.

Samus sat back in the gunship’s cockpit and looked up at the stars. For a moment, she considered undoing her ponytail, but she tossed it over one arm of the chair instead. Just in case. She let her head rest upon the chair, and looked out at the stars for a while before finally closing her eyes.

 

Suddenly, Samus’ eyes shot open to the sound of an ear-splitting scream. The tiredness instantly vanished from every cell in her body as one thought consumed her: _Penelope._ She vaulted out of the chair, her Power Suit already manifesting itself around her as she made it to the ladder in a few quick strides. She slid down it as fast as she could, briefly making sparks as metal ground against metal. She landed on the floor with a _clang_ and sprinted the short distance to Penelope’s room. The door was ajar, so Samus rammed her shoulder into it and immediately pointed her arm cannon around the room, looking for the assailant. Penelope screamed again when she entered, but Samus ignored the fright that she must have caused the princess. Her life was Samus’ primary concern.

“Where is it? What’s the threat?” She asked Penelope after sweeping the small chamber and finding nothing. “Did it escape? Where did it go?”

Penelope waved her arms, crossing and uncrossing them while shaking her head. “There’s no threat, there’s nothing, sorry, sorry…” Samus was confused.

“I’m gonna do a sweep, I’ll be right back,” Samus said, beginning to leave. “Stay here, don’t mov-”

“Samus!” Penelope interrupted. The bounty hunter stopped. “It was… it was just a bad dream. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep.”

Reluctantly, Samus let her Power Armor disappear, but she still kept a hand near the Paralyzer pistol she wore at her leg. “You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Penelope said, turning on the lamp beside her and blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light. “I’m so sorry, I haven’t had nightmares like that since I was a little girl, I didn’t mean to make you sprint down here with the armor and everything…”

Samus’ face softened. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I guess I _might_ have overreacted a little, anyways.” Penelope giggled.

“Maybe a little,” she agreed. The two of them shared that moment, quietly laughing at the absurdity of it all. Penelope had pulled up the covers around herself, but Samus also noticed that she was still wearing the borrowed Zero Suit. She grinned inwardly, glad to finally have someone else appreciate the comfort that the garment provided.

“Well, I suppose I’ll let you get back to bed, then,” Samus replied, now feeling a little silly for practically knocking the door off its hinges. She reached to the knob to close it behind her, and noticed as she pulled that she _may_ have slightly embedded it into the wall. Slightly.

“Goodnight.” Samus said, halfway out of the room.

 

“... Samus?” Penelope called. Her voice was suddenly so... small. She didn’t seem _afraid,_ per se, more nervous than anything else. Samus couldn’t possibly imagine why _that_ was the case, but she turned, silently answering Penelope’s question. “Would… would you stay here... with me?” Samus’ eyebrows leapt into her hairline at the request. Penelope looked away, discouraged, and Samus immediately regretted her reaction. “I just… every time I close my eyes, he’s there. He’s ripping into the guards, the people I’ve known for _years,_ just _slaughtering_ them, like... like…” Penelope’s voice broke. She covered her mouth with her hand.

Samus felt her intense combat demeanor drain out of her like she was a deflating balloon. She’d had nightmares like that before. She’d have them again. Slowly, carefully, like the floor was covered in mousetraps, Samus walked over to the bed. Without a word, she removed her Jet Boots and placed them neatly on the floor. Next, her Paralyzer’s holster was delicately laid out next to them, and the weapon itself was placed on the bedside table, within arm’s reach. Samus gingerly placed herself on the bed, sitting up straight, next to Penelope, her entire body rigid, as if the slightest movement might break her.

Penelope watched as Samus carefully removed her armaments, bewildered at first. Once she understood the bounty hunter’s intentions, though, Penelope’s smile was like the brightest sun that Samus had ever laid eyes upon. Her breathing started to slow, and Samus watched the princess settle back into relative comfort. Satisfied, Penelope flicked off the light once more.

A moment passed between them like that. Then two. Then three. Penelope broke the silence. “You don’t have to sit straight up like a board, you know. I don’t kick or bite, I promise.” Penelope laughed at herself, and turned on her side, facing away from Samus. “Though I can’t say -” she yawned “- that I don’t snore.” That elicited a tiny chuckle from Samus, and Penelope’s heart did a little flip as she felt the taller woman carefully moving herself under the covers, lying flat in the bed as if it was a complex, scientific process. Samus also undid her ponytail at last, letting the elastic wrap around her wrist. For several minutes, the world was still, all but for their soft breathing.

Slowly, gently, Penelope shifted, half-asleep by now. Samus nearly leapt out of her skin when the princess rolled over, throwing an arm across Samus’ chest. She made a happy little sound, and pulled herself closer. Samus moved her right arm out of the way, and Penelope finished closing the distance, her head comfortably resting on Samus’ breast. She snuggled into the contact, leaving Samus no option to disentangle them without the risk of waking her. Her right arm was now awkwardly stuck out into the air, with only one place to go. Samus finally relented, letting her appendage gently rest on the princess’ sleeping body. At the contact, Penelope smiled and nuzzled Samus a little bit.

Penelope’s body was _so_ warm, snuggled up against her own. She finally let her guard down, and squeezed Penelope back. “Sweet dreams, Penelope Stargazer...” Samus murmured. Unable to stop herself, she placed the smallest, most delicate kiss on the crown of the princess’ head. Sleep took her at last, wrapped up in Penelope’s embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought Chapter TWO was gay...  
> And hey, I fulfilled my promise! I posted this chapter "tomorrow," just like I said it would. Your definition of "tomorrow" just, ah... depends on your time zone.  
> Seriously, thanks again for reading! This chapter was short but very sweet, and I hope you all think so too. Fret not, this is just the beginning of Samus and Penelope's tale together!
> 
> Also, I've been seeing some hashtag discourse on tumblr of late about how so many wlw fics are so full of fluff to the point that real wlw can't relate to them (the main criticism is that they lack depth because lady characters are usually written by straight dudes and not given any depth as a result which is pretty valid imo) and I ALMOST changed this chapter to be more "real," but at the last minute I decided "fuck it" and I doubled down on the fluff. I don't at all mean to insult those who don't find fluff realistic, it's just the way that my tale was going and the change felt too artificial.  
> But worry not, there is a LOT more coming for Samus and Penelope, and I plan to add plenty of depth to their characters as I go. I'm not gonna be cruel to my characters for the sake of cruelty, but I'm a "real" wlw too, and I understand that romance isn't all sickly sweet. Just take my dainty hand and I promise I'll lead you somewhere worth the trip.  
> Thanks again for reading (both the fic and these post-chapter rants I'm apparently doing)! I hope my space lesbians made you smile!
> 
> -Red


	4. Break Apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I was PLANNING on waiting until Chapter 5 was done before posting this, but a friend of mine saw the end and INSISTED that I post this chapter on its own.  
> I did not intend to do this to you, but she forced my hand. I tried to protect you, and I'm so sorry.
> 
> -Red

Penelope involuntarily spasmed in surprise. A sound was blaring in her ears, and after she spent a few seconds getting her bearings, she realized that it was some sort of alarm. “Dammit,” someone said. Her instincts quickly took over her lethargy. She scrambled for the lamp beside her. It took her fingers much longer to find the lamp’s switch than she would have liked, but it finally flipped. Frantically, Penelope rubbed her eyes and looked around. To her dismay, Samus was nowhere to be found.

 

* * *

 

 _You idiot!_ Samus screamed at herself in her mind as she leapt halfway up her ship’s internal ladder and began to climb. _You let your guard down, and look what happened!_ She practically leapt into the cockpit, taking the controls with frustration. The ship’s autopilot gave control over to her, and she immediately took evasive maneuvers, narrowly dodging a laser from the hostile ship behind her.

 _The Pirates must have found us_ , she thought. _Shields are at half strength - how long have they been shooting at us?_ She yanked the ship’s controls to the right, dodging more laser fire. She couldn’t even tell how many ships it was behind her. Knowing she couldn’t keep up the dodging for long, Samus pulled up as hard as she could and opened up the ship’s cannons.

The ship flipped itself upside down and began raining lasers in the opposite direction. The five-fighter formation chasing her immediately scattered, and Samus saw that there was an asteroid belt behind them. She knew that the only way that her single ship would have a chance against the five Space Pirate fighters would be in there, where she’d be able to use the environment to her advantage.

Samus pushed her engines to their limits as she gunned for the belt.

 

* * *

 

“Samus?” Penelope shouted. Nothing. The alarm did stop after several moments, but Penelope had great difficulty in feeling reassured. She shakily got out of the bed, and saw that Samus’ rocket boots were gone from the floor. However, the bounty hunter had left her pistol on the table next to the bed, and the weapon’s holster was on the floor at her feet, the only sign that she had ever been there. Penelope grabbed both and ran out of the bedroom.

Suddenly, the entire ship began to shake, and Penelope nearly lost her footing. She stumbled, but still made her way to the ship’s ladder. She almost began to climb, but realizing that her hands were full, she strapped the Paralyzer’s holster to her right leg, mimicking the way that Samus had worn it. Hostering the pistol, Penelope took the ladder as quickly as she could.

 

* * *

 

“Samus?” She heard a voice call her name. She was about to respond, but one of the Space Pirate ships fired a shot across her nose, so all of her concentration went into making a sharp, sudden turn, as the next shot destroyed an asteroid behind her. She heard a grunt from behind her as the ship listed, and then felt a hand grab the back of her chair. “What’s happening?” Penelope asked.  
“Pirates found us,” Samus managed. “They’re - “ she grunted with the effort of another sharp turn “ - pretty pissed.”

“Shit,” Penelope said. Even in the midst of this crisis, Samus took a split second to chuckle. That was certainly one way of putting it.

Samus banked hard and caught one of the fighters, it was navigating the asteroid field just a bit too carefully. Her thumbs pressed down on the controls of her ship, and laser fire tore through the other vessel. Samus flew through the ship’s explosive debris, using it as cover from the shots of another fighter.

“What can I do?” Penelope asked.

 

Samus nearly ran into an asteroid in surprise. “What?” She yelled to Penelope, concerned for the other woman’s sanity.

“I want to help!” The princess shouted back. “All this time, you’ve been doing _everything_ for me. There has to be something I can do for you!”

“Not - “ the ship took a shot from a fighter and both women were rocked forward. “ - now, are you crazy?!?”

“Maybe a little!” Penelope shouted back. “But there HAS to be something!”

 

Samus was about to say that by far the best thing Penelope could do was to strap herself into a jumpseat and sit out until Samus could fix things, but before she could speak, the ship was blasted again.

“Fuck, we can’t take another hit like that!” Samus yelled in frustration. Her gunship’s shields were at a mere 5%. Another two laser blasts and it would be space debris. Samus veered around several more asteroids, picking up speed as she did so, desperately trying to make space between them and their pursuers. She _might_ be able to survive in the Power Suit, but Penelope would definitely be killed instantly, and Samus herself would be a sitting duck for the Pirates to evaporate… or worse.

 

“Doesn’t this ship have a backwards gun?” Penelope yelled in frustration. “There’s not a turret I could operate somewhere?”

Samus was struck with a terrible, awful idea. It was horrendously stupid. It was definitely going to get them killed.

But on the other hand, it just might work.

 

“Not you.” Samus said. “But I can.” She sighed to herself. Well, at least she wouldn’t die alone.

“Can you fly a starship?”

 

* * *

 

“Can I WHAT?!?” Penelope yelled. “You’ve gotta be crazy!”

“You said you wanted to help!” Samus replied. Gods, what a mistake this was. “Here! Up, down, left, right,” She said, showing Penelope how to angle the ship in each direction. “She changes roll better than pitch, so put some extra oomph in when you go up and down. Radar is here, red blips are Pirates. Use these to fire the front cannons,” she gestured to the triggers under her thumbs, “and this lever controls your speed. ”

With one hand, Samus grabbed a headset attached to the ship’s console. “Put this on, I’ll be in touch.”

“What about you?” Penelope asked in disbelief.

“I’m gonna be the backwards gun.” Samus replied, completely matter-of-fact. “Are you ready?”

“I’m terrified.” Penelope said in earnest.

“Just don’t get shot and don’t run into anything,” Samus said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world, even though that exact activity was taking up most of her concentration.

“I can’t do this, what you’re doing!” Penelope yelled. “There’s gotta be another way!”

“Well, I’ve been trying that and it hasn’t been working out.” Samus said. Penelope noticed that there was an eerie calm to her voice, just as there had been when she’d first jumped out from the escape pod. Samus flicked a switch, and pulled a lever backwards. They both lurched backwards as the ship lost a lot of speed. “I just slowed you down, and the autopilot is halfway engaged. If you’re about to hit something, it might steer you out of the way, but don’t rely on it.”

Penelope trembled. “Samus, I’m scared.”

“I know,” Samus replied, her voice the only source of stability in a world of chaos. Penelope desperately wanted their eyes to meet, but didn’t dare try to distract Samus from flying. “But do you trust me?”

Something stirred in Penelope. Call it adrenaline, overconfidence, or just a foolish lack of fear. But she nodded to herself and leaned forward.

“I trust you.”

 

* * *

 

Samus unbuckled the seatbelt with her right hand, and Penelope took the right half of the ship’s controls. She slid out as the other woman hopped in. The moment Penelope was in control, the Power Suit surrounded her as she made her way to the airlock ladder. She didn’t dare look back, swearing to herself that she’d see the princess again.

She closed the inner door to the airlock, and took a breath. “Anybody behind us?” She said into her helmet’s communicator.

“Two,” Penelope shakily replied. They’d caught up quickly, though that was likely due to the fact that Samus had slowed way down to accomodate for Penelope’s inexperience.

 _Well,_ Samus thought. _I ought to give them a warm welcome._

She began charging plasma in her Arm Cannon, and counted to five.

In one fluid motion, Samus kicked the switch to open the hatch to the outer airlock, and leapt most of the way up the ship’s internal ladder. She swung herself the rest of the way up with her left hand, and planted her Arm Cannon on the outside hull of the ship. “Here comes a push!” Samus yelled.

Her Arm Cannon roared, letting loose a gigantic blast of white-hot plasma. The entire ship lurched forward, and she heard Penelope yelp over her headset. The laser tore right through one Space Pirate ship, and ripped an enormous piece off of the second. Badly damaged, the second ship couldn’t turn in time, and exploded against an asteroid.

Penelope whooped with joy as Samus’ laser gave out. “That was one hell of a shot!”

“Good to hear you’re watching your radar,” Samus replied, hopping all the way off the ladder and magnetizing her boots to the ship’s surface. “There’s only two more left.” She faced backwards, but looked over her shoulder.

 _Shit,_ she realized. _We’re almost out of the belt._ She felt the ship roll to one side as Penelope avoided a large asteroid. The objects in an asteroid belt are actually significantly far apart, and Penelope wasn’t flying nearly as fast as Samus had been. Theoretically, the princess wouldn’t have to make _too_ many turns before this conflict ended, one way or the other.

“How goes the flying?” Samus asked, worried as she felt Penelope heavily overcorrect from the turn she’d just taken.

“I uh, I’m figuring it out.” The princess replied. Samus could practically feel Penelope’s knuckles going white.

“You overcorrected,” Samus said, as gently and constructively as she could given the circumstances. “You should turn back about only half as much as you turned initially.”

“Thank you kindly for your input,” Penelope replied, overperforming her royal persona. “I’ll take it under advisement.” Her voice got serious again. “Another ship, coming in on the right.”

Samus quickly checked both sides, not wanting to ask whose right. Penelope had used her own, which she supposed made sense. The fighter was still a ways off, but it was closing in fast, and Samus didn’t dare make Penelope go any faster.

She considered her options. Another giant laser like that would take too long to charge up, and she’d be putting a giant, glowing target on the ship while it did so. She didn’t have very many left, but Samus readied her Arm Cannon for a Super Missile.

“I see him,” Samus replied as the other ship got closer. “Take a hard left, put that asteroid between us.” She felt the ship list again as Penelope turned, and adjusted her footing to stay relatively stable. She let the asteroid fill her vision, and watched some pieces of it fly off from the other side, as the Pirate ship filled it with laser fire as soon as it was in range.

Penelope leveled the ship out and Samus dropped to one knee, getting the steadiest base that she could. She readied the missile.

“Tell me when we’re about to come out on the other side,” Samus said to Penelope.

“Okay!” The princess responded right away.

Samus closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. Last thing she wanted was for her eyes to dry out right before she took the shot.

“On my mark, take a hard left,” Samus said. Penelope made an affirmative sound.

 

“Almost there,” Penelope said in her ear. Samus took another breath, letting her eyelids slowly lift. She cracked her neck. “Aaaand… NOW!”

 

Half an instant later, the asteroid suddenly vanished from Samus’ vision, and was replaced by a Space Pirate fighter. Samus let the missile fly, and she shouted “Mark!”

Her projectile rocketed towards its target, and the ship pulled in the opposite direction. Combustible material met the glass of the other ship’s cockpit, and the debris from the resulting explosion would have hit Samus if the gunship hadn’t banked away.

 

“One more left!” Penelope shouted.

“Any sign of him on radar?” Samus asked as the gunship leveled out.

“None,” Penelope replied. “What should I do?”

“Hang in there, I’m coming back inside.” If it was just one ship, she could take him on herself. They’d gotten this far with Penelope flying, but Samus wasn’t about to keep taking that bet for any longer than she had to.

 

Samus was about to reach for the ship’s hatch when the asteroid up ahead shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. Suddenly, the last Space Pirate ship was right in front of them.

“Shit!” Samus yelled. He must have circled around to cut them off, maybe a failed pincer maneuver with the other fighter. Samus thanked the stars for the Space Pirates’ general lack of coordination.

“I see him!” Penelope replied, and the ship banked hard to the left. A continuous stream of laser fire chased them the whole way, but the ship quickly passed.

“He’s gonna circle back,” Samus said. “Watch your radar, and the moment he appears, pull up and gun it as hard as you can.”

“Are you sure?” Penelope asked, wary. “This speed already feels pretty breakneck to me. Can’t you head back in and take over?” The princess wasn’t necessarily _complaining_ , Samus could tell, she just knew that blind luck was a major contributor to the fact that they were currently still alive

“No time,” Samus said. “But there’s just empty space above us. You can do it, I… I trust you!”

“Here he comes…” Penelope said. Samus began charging another laser.

“Ready?” Samus asked, halfway charged.

“No, but I’ll do it anyway,” Penelope said.

“On my mark,” Samus said. Despite everything, she found herself suppressing a grin at Penelope’s comment.

“Three…” The mouth of her Arm Cannon began to widen to accommodate the laser.

“Two…” she said. She heard Penelope’s breath, running ragged at this point from all the stress.

“One…” Samus didn’t dare turn around, keeping both boots magnetized to the ship’s hull.

The laser was charged.

“Mark!”

 

* * *

 

Penelope was breathless as she pulled back as hard as she could while slamming the ship’s accelerator forward. The ship’s engines roared and her stomach tied itself in knots. She was just barely able to see the enormous cylinder of white plasma that was erupting from Samus’ Arm Cannon. As the ship pulled up, Samus was bending her torso backwards, until the enormous wall of energy was almost coming the front side of the ship, and not the back.

As a result, the laser rushed upwards with both the force of the turn  _and_ Samus’ own movement, and caught the Space Pirate ship far faster than any pilot could have reacted. The ship was immolated from bottom to top in mere moments, exploding into space debris. The red dot on her radar winked out.

Penelope’s heart finally started beating again as she pulled the ship’s engines back to an idle. She did her best to level out, flying as parallel to the asteroid belt as she could.

“Nice flying, Ace,” Samus said over the headset, and Penelope’s cheeks warmed at the praise. “Hang tight, I’m coming back inside.”

  
  


Penelope heard the airlock door open from behind her, and resisted the urge to turn around. She felt Samus walk up behind her, and heard the Power Suit disappear from the warrior’s body.

“Mind if I cut in?” Samus asked, ready to take the controls.

“Please, be my guest,” Penelope said, as if Samus had asked to take her dance partner halfway through a waltz. She gracefully removed the ship’s headset, and slipped out of the captain’s chair.

The bounty hunter sat down, flicking the autopilot all the way off and getting ready to speed up. “You, ah, you might wanna strap yourself in.” Samus said.

 

* * *

  


“I’m fine right here,” the princess replied. She found a handle attached to the ceiling of the cockpit, and leaned her other hand on the back of Samus’ chair. “Where to?”

“Penelope, I’m serious,” Samus said, a bit of edge in her voice. “I’ve gotta make up for lost time. I know you want to help and all, but it’ll be better for both of us if you just sit down and hang on, okay?” She immediately winced at how cruel it sounded out loud.

“Okay…” Penelope said, her voice more than a little wounded.

Samus hated herself for how harshly she’d killed Penelope’s enthusiasm, but it couldn’t be helped. _The closer you get to her, the more you make mistakes,_ her mind scolded. _And if you REALLY cared about her, you’d be more focused on getting her home in one piece._

 

* * *

 

Penelope found one of the ship’s jumpseats, and practically slumped in it once she was strapped in. The ship’s engines roared to life, but it sounded so far away to her.

 _What did you think was going to happen?_ Her subconscious chided. _Was she going to twirl you around like a lover, and beg you to run away with her?_

Penelope stared down at the floor, her eyes completely unfocused. She thought back to how giddy she’d felt when Samus had stayed with her last night. She’d felt so ashamed and _greedy_ for even asking the bounty hunter to comfort her, but Samus had justified her feelings by staying. She could still hear the bounty hunter’s slow, peaceful heartbeat in her ear. Penelope had never been allowed to really _feel_ anything, she’d always been a symbol of Chora’s prosperity. A proper lady from birth, always hiding any true emotion under a demure, graceful smile.

When she was alone with Samus, though, Penelope had felt so genuine, so free of prying eyes and the things that others would say or think about her. And the way that Samus had come out of her shell, and laughed with Penelope, talked with her, fallen asleep next to her… she’d thought that the feelings were at least somewhat mutual.

But after that little exchange, she realized how silly it all was. They were different people, with different lives, and in a few days, Samus would drop Penelope off on her own planet and they’d never see each other again. Even if there _was_ something there, there was no way it could last.

  


* * *

  


Samus kept her eyes focused on the vast expanse of nothingness before her, and her ship’s navigation instruments. She tried desperately to think of anything but Penelope, but she didn’t last more than ten seconds.

 _It’s for the best,_ she told herself. _No matter how much you like her, you can’t just keep her with you forever. She has things to do, and your profession is extremely dangerous. There are so many reasons that whatever this is would end in tragedy._ Samus sighed to herself, trying and failing to push her emotions down.

Her vision blurred slightly as she checked her instruments again. Confused, she wiped her eyes and saw tiny little droplets of liquid on her gloved hand.

 _But it was nice…_ a tiny voice in her head said to nobody, _… to hold someone while we fell asleep…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *runs away from a rightfully angry mob*


	5. Alone Together

“So, what’re your plans once you drop me off on Chora?” Penelope asked. Samus looked up from the meal she’d been halfheartedly poking at, startled out of the silence that had covered their dinner for the last twenty minutes or so.

“I’m not sure,” Samus said truthfully. “I need supplies, for one thing, and my gunship could use a bit of repair.” She rearranged the food on her plate a bit more, thinking. “After that, well, the Federation has left me alone for a couple years, so they’re definitely most of their way into causing the next crisis that I’ll have to clean up.” She smiled up at Penelope, trying to recapture some of their earlier rapport. “Never a dull moment, you know?”

“Mm.” Penelope answered. “And after that?”

“After that?” Samus asked, bewildered. She covered it with a laugh. “In my life, I’ve never had the luxury of planning so far ahead.” She sized the princess up, searching for her motivations. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I’m just curious,” Penelope lied. Her voice softened a little, and she added, “I was just asking after your overall plans.”

“My plans for what?” Samus asked, a little defensive.

“The future,” Penelope said, innocence coating her voice. She finally met Samus’ eyes. “I just… I hope that someday you’ll be able to… I dunno, settle down somewhere, or something. Spend a few days without being shot at.”

“Are you saying that I should… what, retire?” Samus asked.

“Not tomorrow, no.” Penelope said. “But I’ve only known you for two days and I can tell that you aren’t exactly in a rush to do anything for yourself.” Samus looked away, and Penelope took a calculated risk.

 

* * *

 

Samus looked at the wall, refusing to meet Penelope’s eyes. She heard a very slight scooting noise, and felt a gloved hand delicately cover her own. She looked down at her companion, and the other woman’s eyes were soulful and sincere. “Look… I… I know you really care about what you do, and from what you’ve told me, the entire universe would be much worse off without you.”

Her other hand also made its way onto Samus’, and she felt Penelope squeeze. “But… but _you’re a person too,_ dammit, and you deserve to live your life for yourself, just like everybody else.”

“You’ve known me for two days, now, and suddenly you can see right through me?” She asked, already knowing it was true.

“I’m not looking _through_ you,” Penelope said. “I’m looking _at_ you, Samus Aran.”

“Oh, yeah?” Samus retorted, meeting Penelope’s gaze again. The molten look in the princess’ eyes stole all of the angry wind from her metaphorical sails. Samus finally gave in, suddenly so exhausted by it all. Softly, gently, without malice, guile, or accusation, she asked, “And what do you see?”

 

* * *

 

Penelope leaned back a little, considering Samus’ question.

“I see a woman,” she began. “A strong woman, a brave woman, and a noble woman.” She paused, and softened a little. “And I see a lonely woman. I see a warrior who enters an enormous Space Pirate ship by _herself_ to save one princess from a tiny, insignificant speck of a planet on the outer edge of the galaxy.” Samus appeared to protest, (likely to tell Penelope that Chora wasn’t so insignificant) but Penelope held up her hand, silently requesting that Samus let her finish.

“I see a savior who lives alone on a tiny spaceship with one bedroom that she hasn’t used in _years_ because she prefers to freeze herself, waiting until she is needed again.” Penelope looked over at the fridge and chuckled to herself. “I see a woman who has _nothing_ in her kitchen but water, preserved food, and instant coffee, because she doesn’t know if her next non-cryogenic meal will be years from now.” Samus made a quiet, amused sound.

Penelope reached down to her leg and un-holstered Samus’ Paralyzer, gently placing the weapon next to them on the table. “I see a woman who can literally summon a full suit of armor around herself with a mere thought, but who still sleeps with a weapon at her bedside.” Samus looked down at the Paralyzer, as if she hadn’t realized that she’d left it. Penelope watched her instinctively feel her right leg, where the weapon was always supposed to be.

Penelope took a breath, and squeezed Samus’ hand again. The bounty hunter met her gaze once more, and Penelope was more than a little relieved to see that Samus’ eyes were just as wet as her own. “I see a woman who has given _so much_ to people who don’t even know to thank her, and has never asked anything for herself.” A beat passed, both women holding desperately on to the moment.

 

At last, Samus closed her eyes and sighed to herself, slowly shaking her head. “So that’s it, then, huh?” She looked at Penelope, her broad, powerful shoulders slumped in a way that the princess had never seen before. A melancholy smile sat wanly on her lips. “Am I really so obvious?”

Penelope waited, unsure of what to say.

“I’ve spent most of my life travelling the galaxy.” Samus said. “I’ve done a lot, but…” She sighed to herself. “I didn’t ever want to be famous for it.” Penelope cocked her head, unsure of what Samus was getting at. “I was so careful… I made sure…” She stopped, searching for the right words, and Penelope waited patiently for her to find them. “I did everything I could to make sure that nobody could know me.” She chuckled. “You’d be surprised how many people assume that I’m a man.”

“Well, that’s people for you,” Penelope breezed. The pair laughed weakly. “What’s so bad about people getting to know you?”

“Privacy and safety often go hand-in-hand,” Samus said flatly. “If people don’t know who I am, or where to find me, then they can’t use it against me.”

Samus was struck with a horrible realization. “How _did_ the Pirates manage to find us?” She wondered aloud.

 

* * *

 

Penelope was surprised as Samus wordlessly got up and began to leave the kitchen. She wiped her eyes and stood, asking “Wait, what-”

“They’ve got to be tracking us somehow, we're in the middle of deep space,” The warrior explained over her shoulder. “And the only thing new on my ship is you and your stuff.” Samus stopped with one hand on the ladder. “They didn’t insert anything under your skin, did they?” She asked.

Penelope shuddered at the thought. “No, I was conscious for most of the trip, and I didn’t notice any scarring in the shower,” she said. Apparently satisfied for the moment, Samus climbed down the ladder. “Did you leave your clothes in the bathroom?” She asked.

“Yes, sorry, I left a tiny bit of a mess -”

Samus seemed completely unperturbed by the fact that the princess had left her petticoat on the floor, and she felt around the fabric, searching for something. She dropped the petticoat after a moment, and turned to the dress that Penelope had left hanging on the hook. After a moment, she produced a small piece of metal. “And here we are,” she said.

“Well, shit…” Penelope replied, staring at the bug. “So do we smash it now?”

“Nope,” Samus replied. “Then the Pirates will know we found it.”

“What, then?” Penelope asked. Samus smiled, despite everything.

“Ready to fly the ship again?”

 

* * *

 

“Are you SURE that we have to eject my clothes, too?” Penelope asked. “I mean, the dress _was_ kinda ruined, but the petticoat was still in good shape…” She sighed. She knew Samus was just being careful (the bounty hunter had also used a metal detector on Penelope herself, and fortunately found no embedded devices), but it WAS expensive clothing.

“Sorry, Princess,” Samus replied from outside the ship. “But they might have planned for redundancy.” She loaded the modified missile into her Arm Cannon, its explosive material replaced with the bug she’d found. “Get ready to turn.”

“Goodbye, pink ball gown,” Penelope said wistfully. “May a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

“Mark!” Samus said, as she fired the missile out from her Arm Cannon, and let her handful of Penelope’s clothes float off into space.

Mournfully, the princess turned the ship to the right, heading for the new course that Samus had routed for them.

 

* * *

 

“You never let me finish our previous conversation,” Penelope said as soon as the warrior was safely back inside the ship. She flicked on the autopilot, a feature that she’d seen Samus use.

“Damn, I was hoping you’d forget,” the bounty hunter replied, only halfway joking as her suit disappeared.

Penelope put her hands on her hips, as if to say, “be serious, please.” Samus noticed that her Paralyzer was still holstered on the other woman’s leg.

Samus sighed. “Fine, fine. Sit with me in the kitchen?”

“After you.”

 

After they both had sat down, Penelope looked into Samus’ eyes again ( _T_ _hose damned eyes,_  Samus thought to herself). Samus knew she was expecting an answer to her unspoken question.

“I… I wish I had a real explanation for you.” Samus said, looking off into space as Penelope stared at her intently. “But honestly, I just can’t say I really know anything else.” She felt Penelope stir beside her, but Samus continued, knowing that it was better to get it all out than to wait for Penelope to ask clarifying questions or offer comfort. “I told you, I was born on a small mining colony, and my parents were killed when I was a toddler. Old Bird, the Chozo, he took me in.”

“Their planet was too harsh for a human to survive, especially for a child. So, Old Bird infused me with some of their DNA, and…” Samus stopped. She’d never said this to anyone. “And while he was there, I asked him to change some other things about me, too.” Penelope blinked in surprise, but Samus continued, not wanting to get into it.

“After that, well, the Chozo were wise and intelligent, but it’s not like they had much experience parenting a human. So they taught me to be a warrior. Maybe they had a specific reason for it, maybe it was the only universal language they knew.”

She heard Penelope make an empathetic little sound. “The Power Suit was an artifact of theirs, and they modified it just for me. Once I was sufficiently trained, I joined up with the Federation, because they did good all over the galaxy.” She sighed at the memory. “But, while its goals might be noble, the Federation and I had some… disagreements. It was a big, intergalactic entity, full of command structures, politics, and corruption, and I was just too… different, to fit.”

“Different how?” Penelope asked gently.

“I didn’t want or need any of their standard-issue weapons or gear, I didn’t play at military politics in the slightest, and I hadn’t had a long conversation with another human being for almost two decades,” she said matter-of-factly. “I got better at the last thing over time, obviously, but I was still never really what one would call ‘talkative.’ So, I left, and made it on my own as a bounty hunter. By that point, the Chozo had basically vanished, Ridley and the Space Pirates were running rampant, and Metroids threatened all life in the galaxy. I’ve just kind of been putting out fires ever since.”

 

Samus sighed, her little tale concluded. “So, I don’t really have an answer for you. I don’t want people to know me because they never have. And at this point, with everything else that I am, well… it’s not like I can just walk up to people and introduce myself. No one has ever listened to me talk as much as you have, Penelope.”

“Penny,” the princess replied.

Samus snapped out of her reverie and looked at her companion. A weak smile rested warmly on her face. “My friends call me Penny.”

 

* * *

 

Penny’s chest felt warm as Samus looked back at her. “I… I don’t know if I’ve ever had a friend.” The bounty hunter said after a moment, as if she’d just realized it for the first time.

Penny quietly pushed down the part of her mind that pointed out that they were already well on their way to being a bit more than friends, and covered Samus’ hand with her own again. Already, it felt like a practiced gesture. “You do now,” she said.

“Thank you...” Samus said, finally taking her hand and squeezing it back. After a moment, she added, “... Penny.”

“You’re welcome,” the princess replied, her smile like the rays of a gorgeous yellow star.

 

Both women held on to that moment, extending it as long as they could. Slowly, Penny scooted herself even closer to Samus, and wrapped the warrior into a hug. Samus hesitated momentarily, but she squeezed back. Penny felt the warrior’s cheek rest gently on the top of her head.

They pulled apart, and Samus asked, “Well, now what?” She smiled for a moment. “Should I just find myself the nearest habitable, civilized planet, hop down there, and ask if I can buy a house?”

Penny giggled. “Well, you could also stay at my place.” Samus’ eyes widened at the gesture, seemingly impressed by her generosity. Penny immediately waved that reaction out of the way. “Come on, you saved me from certain death or worse, it’s literally the least I can do to let you use one of the castle’s thirty-something guest rooms.” She thought for a moment. “The old house miiiiight be a bit of a wreck, though, this terrible space dragon broke in the other night.” Both women laughed at that.

 

“So, that’s it, then? Am I just retiring forever on Chora?” Samus asked, seeming to know that if Penny desired that, it would be so.

“Not forever, no.” Penny replied. “But I am demanding that you give yourself at _least_ one month of R&R.”

Samus blinked.

“‘Rest and relaxation?’” Penny quoted. Samus shook her head, indicating her lack of familiarity with the phrase.  

“Yeah, okay, you’re taking two months at least.”

 

* * *

 

“So, how many days to Chora?” Penny asked as she made their meal.

“Oh, two and a half or so,” Samus replied. She stared off into space as the other woman cooked, as Penny had made it very clear that Samus was forbidden from anything close to work for the rest of the night.

“What do you want to do between now and then?” Penny asked.

“I really don’t know. All that I can think of is the fact that my ship needs repairs.”

“Mm.” Penny hummed. “Can we stop on the way?”

“Sure, I’ll find a place,” Samus began, but Penny was glaring daggers at her before she was fully out of her seat.

Samus had lightning-fast reflexes, but she had to admit that the princess wasn’t slow herself.

“You can find a place _tomorrow,_ ” Penny said. “We both almost died today, and you went outside of a moving starship twice. Tonight, you rest.” She gestured at Samus with a fork in her hand to emphasize the point.

Samus had already learned that arguing with Penny about these sorts of things was a great way to lose an argument, so she just slowly put her hands up and sat back down in her seat.

“Now,” Penny said, triumphantly flipping her hair out of her eyes and bringing two plates over to the table, “Let’s eat, shall we?”

 

* * *

 

They’d kept conversation pretty light over the course of the meal, with Penny mostly talking about life on Chora. She didn’t make _too_ much of an effort to pepper Samus with details of how she should behave in the castle or what her stay would be like, because she didn’t want to make the warrior feel overwhelmed. Samus interjected fairly often, asking the occasional clarifying question or providing relevant details about her own _very_ limited experience with civilian life.

 

“So, one question about this little adventure that you’re taking me on,” Samus said.

Penny looked up. “Yes?”

“Are… are you sure that having me hang around on Chora is the best idea?”

“Of course I am!” Penny said. “You desperately need to do something other than fight aliens or be a cryogenic popsicle.”

“No, I… that’s not what I meant.” Samus said. It took her a moment to find the right words, and Penny waited patiently for her. “Are you sure that it’s a good idea for _Chora_ to have _me_? _”_ Penny thought for a moment at that. “I mean, I’m not disputing anything you’ve said so far, but… you are right. About me, I mean. I sleep with a gun at my bedside, I fight space dragons for a living, that sort of thing. Won’t I stand out pretty badly on Chora? What with my complete and utter lack of practical civilian skills?”

Penny laughed. “Well, for one thing, I’m royalty, I’m forbidden from having what anyone would call a ‘practical civilian skill,’ but that doesn’t stop me from living on Chora.”

“You cooked dinner tonight, and flew a starship twice.”

“I won’t tell the public if you won’t,” Penelope winked. “It’d be truly dreadful if they found out that I used to mend my own clothing when I was a little girl, before the maids found out and insisted they do it for me.”

Samus gave Penny a “please be serious” look, and the princess relented.

“You do make a fair point, though. I’ll do some thinking on that part, because I _imagine_ that you aren’t remarkably keen on divulging all of the personal information that you’ve given me to everyone you’ll meet on Chora.” The color drained from Samus’ face, and she shook her head vigorously. “It’s okay,” Penelope reassured. “All of your secrets are safe with me.”

Samus looked very relieved. “Actually, there’s something else I want you to keep secret, too.” She said. Penny’s eyebrows went up, but her countenance was still quite receptive to what Samus was about to say. “On Chora… I don’t want to be Samus Aran.”

“What do you mean?” Penny asked in earnest.

“I mean that despite my best efforts, the name ‘Samus Aran’ has gotten around. And like I said, people don’t know much about me, including how I look without the Power Suit. I’d rather keep things that way.”

“Okay. I can definitely work with that,” Penny said, suddenly contemplative.

“I don’t like that look.” Samus said, only half joking. Penny’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

“Perhaps that’s a good instinct,” Penny said with a grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll think up an identity for you.” Terrified by that thought, but resigned to her apparent fate, Samus just shook her head.

 

“All done?” Penny asked, referring to dinner. “Yes, thank you,” Samus replied. They’d actually eaten quite a bit, as there hadn’t really been time for breakfast, what with the space dogfight and the emotional tension throughout the day.

“You’re welcome,” Penny replied, taking Samus’ plate from her with a happy little bounce in her step. The warrior found herself baffled at how _normal_ everything felt. How simple, how… nice.

“Tell you what, how about you hop in the shower while I wash dishes?” Samus briefly reflected on how they’d probably built up a small stack of dirty ones in the dishwasher after two days of eating for twice the number of the ship’s expected occupancy.

“Okay, but why do I need to shower?” She asked genuinely. Penny crossed the tiny kitchenette in a single step, and put her hand on Samus’ shoulder. “Because I care about you, and when I hugged you two hours ago, I caught a whiff of your hair.” Samus had absolutely _no_ response to that, and based on the way that Penny smiled sweetly and bounced away to the sink, she hadn’t been expecting one. Well... it _had_ been a few days, now that she thought about it.

“See you in the bedroom!” Penny sang as the bounty hunter exited the kitchen.

“The bedroom?” Samus replied, poking her head back in.

“Well of course,” Penny said. “There’s absolutely no way that I’ll let you sleep in the cockpit tonight, so either we’re _both_ taking the bed, or you’re keeping it all to yourself.”

Samus’ cheeks warmed considerably as she realized that Penny’s snuggling last night apparently _hadn’t_ been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the warmth only increased as she intently watched the princess bend over to move some dishes into the dishwasher.

Samus nearly slapped herself back to reality, and made her way downstairs to the shower before she found herself unable to leave.

 

* * *

 

“How was your shower?” Penny asked, sitting up in the bed when Samus approached.

“It was nice,” Samus replied. “I haven’t had a really long shower in…”

“Stars above, please do _not_ say ‘weeks,’” Penelope said.

“In a few days,” Samus said, glaring daggers at her companion. Penny put a hand over her chest and breathed, as if she’d just been told that her medical diagnosis wasn’t fatal. Samus rolled her eyes and started to take off her rocket boots. She also noticed that Penny had delicately placed the Paralyzer on the bedside table on Samus’ side of the bed, and neatly hung its holster on the handle of one of the table’s tiny drawers.

“You really _should_ get yourself some decorations, you know.” Penny mused to Samus. “Some books for the bedside table, something to hang on the walls…”

“Tell you what,” Samus joked, “We can redecorate  _after_ I get the shields working again, and I stock up on the essentials, like fuel and water.”

“Really?” Penny asked, her eyes wide and expectant.

“Well, I suppose that now I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” Samus replied.

“Not anymore, no,” Penny said.

 

Samus sighed, and Penny flicked off the light. Several minutes passed in peaceful silence.

“Penny?” Samus asked.

“Yes, Samus?” came the princess’ slightly tired reply.

“Thank you,” Samus said. “For… for seeing me. For caring about me.”

“Of course I care about you, Samus Aran,” Penny said. “We’re friends now, remember?” Penny sidled up next to her, resting her head on the other woman’s chest, just as she had only twenty-four hours ago. But now, everything about the gesture was different, and they both knew it. Samus’ arm wrapped around Penny, who giggled and snuggled in closer at her touch.

“I remember,” Samus replied. To herself, she added, _And_ _I won’t ever forget._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -You have no idea how many times I instinctively wrote "Penelope" and then had to go back and change it.
> 
> -Also, instant coffee specifically can last for around 20 years, so that's why it's the only kind Samus has.
> 
> -Lastly, from the previous chapter, the objects in an asteroid field are actually very far apart, (like, so far that if you stood on one you'd need a telescope to see more than like 2 asteroids away, yes I researched the properties of asteroid belts for my Metroid fanfiction) so no, Penelope isn't suddenly an amazing starship pilot, she just got somewhat lucky and followed Samus' directions to the letter. Literally no one has complained about this, but I felt the need to say so anyways.
> 
> -Red


	6. Talking and Shopping

Penny was delighted to actually get the chance to wake up in Samus’ arms this time. She came to consciousness of her own accord in the dark, briefly wondering how much her Circadian rhythm was in shambles at this point. It’s not like there was a sunrise to go by or anything. She tried to gently flip her hair out of her eyes without waking the bounty hunter, whose breathing was still low and even.

Penny comfortably stayed in Samus’ embrace for a while, just taking simple pleasure in being held. She’d never really gotten to, well… fall asleep with a girl like this before, or with anyone. She’d had a few… _experiences,_ with other women on Chora, but the whole “actually sleeping together” thing hadn’t ever happened before. She and Samus hadn’t done anything other than the literal act of falling asleep in the same bed. And that specific action was something that Penny hadn’t yet done with anybody else. She was a _princess_ , after all, she couldn’t just have strangers spending the night in her bedchamber.

And even though she had theoretically “gone farther” with other people (even men, before she’d learned a bit more about herself), there was something incredibly special about just… snuggling. It also didn’t hurt that Samus’ arms were incredibly strong. Penny felt more secure in their embrace than she ever had, and she lived in a castle where armed guards were occasionally posted at her door while she slept.

But, after several quiet, blissful minutes in the bounty hunter’s arms, Penny did eventually give in to the fact that her joints were getting sore from holding her position for so long. Carefully, Penny extricated herself from Samus’ arms, and she felt the bounty hunter stir, but she didn’t wake. Penny let her sleep, mostly as an apology for the two rude awakenings that she’d been responsible for in the last twenty-four hours.

Penny rolled out of bed and carefully left the room.

  


Thirty minutes later or so, Penny heard the sound of someone climbing a ladder. She smiled, and without looking over her shoulder, she called, “Good morning, sleepyhead! Coffee?”

 

* * *

 

Samus’ eyes were a little bleary, as she still wasn’t used to the physical act of sleeping. So she took a moment to rub her eyes before she was able to process what had been said to her. She took in the scene, coffee pot already on the burner, one mug gently steaming on the table. And Penny standing in her kitchen, happily humming to herself as she poured another mug.

She turned around and saw Samus just watching her, and for a moment her eyes filled with concern. “Everything okay?” Penny asked.

“Yes, sorry,” Samus replied. “I just… this is very new to me. Somebody else being up first. Or… somebody else, at all.”

“I’m sorry!” Penny said, a genuine apology on her face. “Did I overstep?”

“No, no, not at all,” Samus said. “I’ll uh, I’ll take the coffee. Thanks.”

“Yours is already on the table,” Penny said, as she finished pouring her own. “You seem like the type to take it black, and you don’t really have any other options in here, anyways, so…” Samus chuckled.

“Yes, sorry. I used to put in a little milk and sugar, but it always went bad after a cryosleep or two,” Samus said.

“Even the sugar?” Penny asked, knowing that sugar could last for two years.

“Not right away, but yes…” Samus replied, a little embarrassed. She had felt so normal for a moment, up until this reminder of her very unusual profession.

 

The two sat in silence for a moment, slowly waking up. Samus noticed that Penny was far more comfortable with black coffee than she’d initially expected. Due to the nature of their first impression, Samus had somewhat assumed that the princess was delicate in every sense of the word. And while Penny definitely wasn’t a literal superhuman like Samus, she had been surprised and impressed by the girl’s resilience. Penny hadn’t really spoken about much of her experiences other than peaceful court life. While Samus was curious where that strength came from, she wasn’t about to ask that question directly. She frankly didn’t know what to say about it that wouldn’t be impolite.

“So, we have one stop before Chora, right?” Penny asked, breaking their few minutes’ silence.

“Yes,” Samus said. “I’ll see if I can’t find a trading planet or a space station.” She started to get up and head to the cockpit to do so when Penny’s look stopped her.

“Well, you don’t have to go right this second,” she said. “I was just making conversation.

“Sorry,” Samus replied. “I’m still, er… getting used to that.”

“It’s all right.” Penny said. She thought for a moment. “Tell you what, why don’t you ask me anything you want to know about Chora, and I’ll do my best to answer!”

 

* * *

 

Penny was relieved to see Samus’ face light up at the offer. She figured that the bounty hunter was worried about eventually being so far out of her element, and wanted to ease her mind as much as possible. She watched the wheels in Samus’ head turn for a moment as she pondered what to ask first.

“So, what are we, or, I… going to really do?” She finally asked. She blushed slightly and put her hand on the back of her head, embarrassed. “I mean, not to imply that Chora is, er, boring or anything, I just…” she fumbled for words.

“It’s okay!” Penny smiled. She took another sip of her coffee. “I know what you meant. And besides, it certainly does get a little boring, every now and again.” She winked. “But, to answer your question, well… we can really do whatever you like!”

Penny thought for a moment. “Well, I imagine that first we’ll have to contact the planet, and tell them that I’m okay. After that, my fathers would probably want to throw a party… well, if they’re alive…”

 

* * *

 

Samus watched Penny’s face fall at that, and felt her heart wrench. She felt so foolish, all of a sudden. Here she was, sitting on her butt doing nothing in her kitchen, acting out a silly fantasy of living with her, chatting like nothing was wrong. But there was still so much up in the air at the moment, and it killed Samus that she wasn’t able to just fix it all. She didn’t have an immediate answer to the problem, and that was a new, frustrating feeling. It would likely still take another day or so before they’d be able to send any communications out to Chora. There wasn’t much that Samus could really do to change that, but she felt like such a failure for not spending her every waking second trying anyways.

 

Penny looked up, as if she’d just physically shaken the previous thought out of her head. “Well, I imagine that it’ll take a few days to settle in. After that, there’ll likely be _some_ sort of affair to celebrate my safe return…” Suddenly, her eyebrows went up, and Samus watched the most wicked grin spread across her face. “Samus Aran, do you know how to dance?”

 

She must have made a panicked expression, because Penny’s grin widened more. “I, er, not really, uh… no.” Samus replied.

The grin reached maximum capacity, before Penny closed her eyes and took another sip of her coffee, a smile still very present in her every action.

“Well,” she breezed, as if her next statement would mean nothing at all. “Perhaps I can teach you. If you’d like, of course.”

Samus could feel her cheeks burning like a wildfire, and Penny seemed completely nonchalant about her offer. It was like she’d asked if Samus wanted another mug of coffee.

 

“I, um… I’d like that!” Samus said, trying desperately to hide her enthusiasm. She felt a twinge of regret and shame for letting herself so easily get sucked back in to her childish excitement for the upcoming visit to Chora. Initially, she’d been so reticent to leave her comfort zone, but... well. Penny hadn’t exactly given her _too_ much choice in the matter. The twinge of shame didn’t leave, though, and it forced Samus to add, “That is… if it’s no trouble.”

“None at all!” Penny assured her. “I’d hate for you to feel left out from something like a royal promenade.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“I am! Please, I insist.”

Finally giving in to her handy defeat in the war of politeness, Samus simply replied, “Then I’d be honored to learn.”

 

She looked into her coffee mug, and saw that it was empty. Time to work, then.

“I’m gonna see if I can’t find somewhere to get supplies, and then it’ll be full speed ahead to Chora.” She said, standing and hastily taking her mug to the sink.

 

* * *

 

Penny watched Samus’ quick exit and couldn’t help but feel like a fool. She thought she’d been doing a pretty good job of avoiding all of the hard subjects around their current circumstances, but as soon as she’d accidentally referenced her fathers, Samus had been seized with a grave expression. She kicked herself, angry that she’d pulled the bounty hunter back to such a serious mood so quickly.

She obviously _did_ want to see her fathers, and was worried about them. But bringing that up wouldn’t do either of them any good, and Penny didn’t want Samus to feel like she wasn’t working hard enough. Penny quickly finished her coffee and followed her companion into the cockpit.

 

“Hey,” she said as she walked up behind the bounty hunter, putting one hand on the pilot seat and the other on the nearby wall. She was reminded of how Samus had told her off the last time she’d stood in that position, but she pushed past the embarrassing memory and stood her ground. She could tell that Samus had regretted saying it, and there was no danger now.

 

“I found a supply station,” Samus said. “We’re only a couple of minutes away, actually. I can buy some food, water, and plenty of fuel to head to Chora as fast as possible.” Penny nodded.

“Anything else?” Penny asked.

“Huh?” Samus asked, fear in her voice like she’d forgotten something. Penny immediately kicked herself again. Why was she so terrible at this?

“Sorry, I meant to ask if there was anything more we could pick up,” she said quickly. “Like… you know… some books, or something. Decorations.” Samus looked up at her, and her face softened. “I was serious last night, you know. If you _insist_ on living in this tiny spaceship, then it deserves to feel like a home.”

“Besides,” Penny continued, breaking eye contact and hiding a sly smile that the bounty hunter could definitely see, “it’s not that I don’t enjoy your company, but it would be nice to have _something_ else to do other than cook, eat, or talk.”

“What, so my ship with absolutely no entertainment options whatsoever is _boring_ , now, hmm?” Samus joked. “Was that your true goal, with the decorations?”

“Oh dear, you’ve found me out,” Penny said, the sarcasm in her voice so thick it began collecting in a small puddle on the floor. They laughed. Penny looked down at Samus, and took another calculated risk.

 

* * *

 

Samus felt a hand gently rest on her shoulder. The other woman’s touch still surprised her a little, even though she’d spent the last two nights with Penny’s head resting on her chest.

“I am being serious, you know,” the princess said. The look in her eyes was so soft, so tender. “It’s not just the ship that desperately needs a touch of something more like home.”

Samus sighed, conceding that point. “Very well. Seems like this station is mostly on the military side, but I’ll see if I can’t find some books. Sound good?”

“Sure,” Penny said, “but… aren’t I coming with you?”

 

Samus shook her head. “I’d rather you stay here. There’s a lot of bounty hunters and such around, and these types of stations usually don’t have _too_ many, well… laws, or anything. Somebody might recognize you, and they might know someone who knows how to contact the Space Pirates, or something to that effect.” She looked up at Penny, and the color had drained from her face slightly.

“But then, won’t they recognize you, too?” She asked. “I had no idea it would be so dangerous…”

“Don’t worry,” Samus said. “It’s not like it’s a war zone or anything. And the people who _do_ recognize my armor definitely know enough about me to leave me alone.” She looked up at Penny, and she smiled. “It’s not that I’ll be in danger, I just don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.”

Penny seemed to think that was fair, and Samus pushed her luck with a joke.

“Besides, it’s not like you have any money.” Penny seemed surprised at this.

“Samus, you do know that I’m a princess, right? I mean... “

“Oh yeah?” Samus asked, delighted that Penny hadn’t realized yet. “How much do you have on you right now?” She waited, and heard the princess gently sigh.

“I _suppose_ that you may have me on that… technicality,” Penny finally admitted.

Samus simply hummed along, quietly gloating, to her companion’s chagrin.

 

* * *

 

“We’re about to get ready to board,” Samus said. “So, as much as I enjoy your company, it’s probably best that you hole up in the bedroom until I’m back.”

Penny’s hands found her hips. “Come on, is it  _really_ that dangerous?” She asked.

“Hey, risks are risks,” the bounty hunter said. “Besides, people are going to come in and out to refuel and all that while I’m shopping. It’ll be much safer if nobody sees you.”

Penny relented. Samus made a good point, and she certainly didn’t want the bounty hunter to worry. “Fair enough,” she said. “You’ll knock on the door when everything’s set?”

“I will.” Samus said. “I promise.”

“I trust you.” Penny said. She smiled. “Don’t forget the novel, yeah? Something romantic, if they have options.” Samus chuckled as she made her way down the ladder.

“I’ll try to find the best one,” she replied, and Penny could hear the grin in her voice.

  


Penny shut the door to the bedroom, and did her best to be patient while Samus was stocking up. She sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. She suddenly noticed that there wasn’t really much of anything to do while the bounty hunter was gone. After thinking for a moment, Penny realized that she hadn’t yet thought of a false identity for Samus on Chora. “Well,” she mused aloud, “I hope she doesn’t mind having a deep backstory.”

 

* * *

 

Samus allowed herself to relax a little as her ship finally cleared the station. She’d tried not to take _too_ long, but the man she’d purchased fuel from had been quite the talker. She let the Power Suit disappear once more, having worn it during the whole trip. The last thing she needed was a man assuming she didn’t know what she was talking about.

 _Or worse,_ Samus thought to herself, _thinking that he could flirt his way into a bigger sale._

She shook her head and let the autopilot take over, flying full speed to Chora. She could afford to waste some fuel now that the tank was full, and she also felt much safer now that the shields were back to full strength. She picked up the book she’d gotten for Penny off of the console, and headed down the ladder.

 

“Hey, Penny, it’s me,” she said, knocking on the door as she opened it. “Heads up!” She said, tossing the princess her gift.

“Ooh, thank you!” Penny said after she pathetically missed the gentle, underhand toss. Samus chuckled, and Penny flushed a little at her obvious failure.

“So how was the dangerous, terrifying supply station, Sams?”

“‘Sams?’” The bounty hunter asked, one eyebrow raised.

“What, you don’t like it?” Penny asked. “I figured that since you have a nickname for me…” Samus smiled. She gestured for Penny to follow her to the kitchen, which had better seating.

“Mm, it’s not my favorite.” She said. “Try another.”

“Okay, how’s ‘Sammy?’” Penny asked as they climbed the ladder.

“Meh, too boyish.”

“Fair enough. How about just ‘Sam?’”

“Hmm. Let’s try that, I guess,” she said. “You know, there was this AI that used to call me ‘Lady,’ so I guess you could use that if you like.”

“Oh, really?” Penny asked, her curiosity piqued. “That’s a bit... friendly, for an artificial intelligence.”

“It had the personality of my old CO, back in the Federation.” Samus said. “Long story. He was an asshole, but fortunately the AI didn’t know that, and it actually listened to me when I was right about things.”

Penny hummed in response. “That’s good, I suppose. Still, that’s… weird. Did the AI, like…” Samus’ eyebrow went up again as Penny trailed off.

 

“Did it what?” She prompted. Penny went a little red.

“I mean, was it, like… flirty?” She asked. Now _both_ of Samus’ eyebrows were raised, and Penny immediately covered her mouth in embarrassment. “Well, I just thought, like… ‘Lady’ is _such_ a flirty nickname!” Her justifications grew louder as Samus’ chuckle became a laugh. “Come on, that AI _had_ to have been trying something!”

“Well, I never reciprocated, if that’s what you’re asking,” Samus barely managed in the middle of her laughter.

“Hey, I’m just speaking from experience!” Penny said hotly. “Every single time a man has called me ‘Lady,’ it’s because he was either interested in me or wanted a better relationship with my fathers.”

“Oh? And how does that usually go for them?” Samus asked.

“Not too well, believe it or not,” Penny replied. “They’re all just so terribly surprised to learn that even if I _was_ interested in men, they wouldn’t be my type.” Both women laughed again, and Samus got up to start making dinner. Penny did her best to help as they shared the tiny space.

 

“For the record, no, I don’t think that AI was flirting with me.” Samus said after they’d gotten into a rhythm.

“Good,” Penny replied immediately.

 

* * *

 

Penny felt Samus’ raised eyebrow pointing in her direction once more. “What?” She asked, maybe a little defensive. “Did you _want_ to be flirted with by the computerized ghost of your asshole CO?” Samus laughed.

“Well, no, not in the slightest, actually.” She replied. “But I _am_ curious as to why you’re so fixated on it.”

“I am not _fixated,_ ” she said, a little too quickly. “I’m just glad you weren’t unnecessarily flirted with by somebody, because it happens to me all the time and I know how much it sucks.”

“Of course,” Samus said, a smile in her voice. Penny’s cheeks burned. Did Samus know she was jealous? And why _was_ she jealous of a long-gone AI from Samus’ past, anyways?

“Well, either way, it’s gone now.” Samus continued.

“Mm.” Penny said. “I’m glad that you like ‘Sam,’ by the way. I imagine that most people on Chora won’t want to keep calling you ‘Samantha’ all the time.”

 

“That’s my fake name?” Samus asked. “‘Samantha?’”

“The best fake name is the one you respond to easily,” Penny breezed. “If it’s obvious that you’re not used to it, people will know it’s fake. Besides, your surname will be different, so people won’t see the association.”

“And what _is_ to be my surname?” Samus asked, curious.

“It’s a little corny, but, I thought of ‘Hunt.’” Penny replied, suddenly embarrassed by it.

“That might be a tad on the nose, even for me.” Samus replied with a smile.

“How about ‘Brooks?’” Penny offered.

“Hmm… ‘Samantha Brooks…’” the bounty hunter tried on the name. Penny watched her face eagerly as she considered it.

 

“I like it!” The bounty hunter decided. “Where’d you get the surname?”

“A friend, when I was little,” Penny replied. “A nobleman and his wife brought their daughter on a state visit, and she was about the same age as me, so we played together for a few days. Her name was Brooke. My dads won’t remember her or her parents, it was more than a decade ago and they haven’t visited since.”

“I see. Well, I’m glad I can steal her name,” Samus replied. “Anything else I should know to properly play this role?”

“Well, Sam,” Penny replied, watching Samus’ eyes to see how she reacted to the nickname when she wasn’t expecting it, “it’s mostly based on the truth.” She put her utensils down and began to spin Samus’ fake tale, with perhaps just a slightly dramatic lilt in her voice.

 

“You were born on a remote mining colony, and you grew up there. One day, Ridley and the Space Pirates attacked and destroyed your home, kidnapping you in the process. You were captured before me, so you looked after me and protected me from the Pirates as much as you could. Then, that incredible and enigmatic bounty hunter, Samus Aran, rescued us both from their evil clutches. Samus gave us these suits,” Penny pinched her Zero Suit and pulled out for emphasis, “and since your planet was destroyed and you didn’t really have anywhere else to go, I figured I’d return the favor you did for me and let you stay on Chora. At least until you get your feet back under you, so to speak.”

 

“Well, it seems like you have it all planned out,” Samus said, impressed. Penny smiled.

“If anyone asks me why you’re so quiet, it’s because you spent way more time among the Pirates than I did, so you got used to silence. You also don’t know much about royalty or court life because the mining colony was established somewhat recently, and its government was very small and informal.”

“Very clever,” Samus said. Penny felt a little thrilled at her approval.

  


* * *

  


A few hours after dinner, the pair settled into bed. Samus was still somewhat getting used to sharing the bed with Penny. She certainly didn’t _mind_ the princess’ company, not for a moment. The gunship, despite being her home, was still a cold, metal spaceship, and Penny was a lovely refuge of warmth in the middle of that. At the moment, the princess was absorbed in her book, and Samus was just sitting up in bed next to her, enjoying her company and the silence.

Finally, Samus’ curiosity got the better of her, and she asked, “So, I take it you’re enjoying the book?”

“Mm?” Penny replied, her mind taking a moment to adjust from being pulled out from the novel. “Oh, yes! I’m enjoying the romance, even though it _is_ between a man and a woman. I’d say she deserves better, but to his credit, he actually is quite kind.”

 

“That’s good to hear,” Samus replied, a bit drowsy. “There wasn’t really a bookstore, just a single stand inside a general supplies place. That one was the only romance I could really find.”

“Well, thank you again,” Penny smiled. She then noticed that she’d already made it about a quarter of the way through already, and showed that progress to Samus. “Though I’m worried I may finish before we make it to Chora.”

“We should make it some time the day after tomorrow,” Samus said, yawning. “But yes, try not to blaze through it.”

“I’ll do my best, Sam,” Penny said.

“Mm,” was Samus’ only reply.

 

She let a moment pass between them, and finally worked up the courage to ask.

“Would… would you mind reading it to me?” She said.

“Huh?” Penny asked. Apparently, she had already gone back to reading.

“Sorry, nevermind,” Samus replied immediately. She was already ashamed to ask. Seeing Penny quietly enjoy her book reminded Samus of when Old Bird had read Chozo fairy tales out loud to her to get her to sleep when she was younger. It had been hard to adjust to sleeping on Zebes, and Old Bird’s stories had been the only thing that could get her to actually fall asleep for the first few years or so. Samus felt her lips forming in a melancholy smile at the memory.

“No, it’s all right.” Penny said. “Sorry I didn’t hear you the first time.”

“I, er… I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind… reading aloud.” Samus said. She was much more nervous asking the second time, now that she KNEW Penny could hear her.

Penny smiled. “Well, I am around…” she flipped forwards and backwards through the book to be sure her comment would be accurate, “... halfway through chapter sixteen. The plot won’t make any sense unless I restart.”

“Restart if you like, but you can just keep going,” Samus said. “I won’t mind.”

 

Penny just smiled, turned the page, and began to read aloud. Her voice was so lovely, Samus realized. Her cadence was calm and even, so sweet and clear that it was almost hypnotic. Samus was a seasoned combat veteran with incredible reflexes, but she was also a somewhat tired woman who was sitting in a warm, comfortable bed, while a gorgeous woman read her a relaxing story. Samus had faced many foes over the years, but it appeared that she’d finally met her match.

 

* * *

 

It was almost the end of chapter twenty when Samus’ head slid down to gently rest on Penny’s shoulder. Startled, Penny lost her place in the page for a moment, but quickly found it and continued, hoping Samus hadn’t noticed. Penny could tell from her breathing that the other woman was still awake, or at least only half-asleep. Her heart fluttered as she read, which was humorously incongruous with the slow-paced chapter she was reading about the man at his job, trying to hide his budding romance from his coworkers, for fear that they would learn his lover’s true nature as a werewolf.

 

At around chapter twenty-two, Samus shifted once more, her head now resting in Penny’s lap. The other woman’s breathing was soft, low, and even. Penny was sure that Samus hadn’t really fallen into her lap on purpose, she must have subconsciously just sought a more comfortable position with her last few semi-waking seconds. And Penny truly couldn’t say that she had any objections.

Quietly, Penny finished the chapter and did her best to remember the number of the one on which she’d stopped. Gently, very careful not to rouse Samus, Penny placed the book on the bedside table.

She was about to turn off the light, but she stopped, and looked down at Samus’ sleeping form. Her hair had fallen over her eyes, and Penny reached down to gently push it behind her ear. Samus stirred ever so slightly, but she was still fast asleep. Penny smiled. She was having trouble believing how much her life had changed.

 

Two weeks ago, she had been relatively carefree, helping her fathers prepare to host another important dinner. She’d been studying up on what to prepare that would make the visiting party most comfortable. She’d done research on their planet’s cuisine, customs, and the like, and had actually begun decorating the castle to prepare for their arrival before she’d been kidnapped and her whole life had changed.

From there, it had been a terrifying, life-threatening roller coaster, but on it, she’d met perhaps the most incredible woman in the entire galaxy. Penny realized that she’d probably been given an incredibly unique opportunity to truly meet the bounty hunter, even though it hadn’t exactly been a choice.

And despite the fact that the price of admission had been kidnapping, Penny couldn’t say she regretted the whole affair. She didn’t exactly have any interest in getting kidnapped again or anything, but she’d only met Samus a few days ago and she already felt like she’d been friends with the bounty hunter for ages. She still had a lot more to learn about Samus, she knew, and she still wasn’t exactly certain what they were to each other yet. But she did know that one doesn’t exactly sleep in someone’s arms two nights in a row and still consider them a stranger.

 

Samus made a sleepy murmur from her lap, and Penny looked down, a smile easily finding its way to her face. When she saw her hand, Penny realized she’d idly been stroking Samus’ hair the whole time she’d been reflecting. She immediately froze, terrified of what would happen if Samus woke.

However, to her surprise, Samus made a small, puzzled sound when Penny stopped. She hesitated, but resumed, twice as gentle now that she was actually paying attention to it. Samus readjusted herself slightly, seeming more satisfied. Apparently, the galaxy’s deadliest bounty hunter enjoyed it when someone carded their fingers through her hair.

 _Or maybe, just maybe,_ Penny thought to herself, trying not to be too hopeful, _she only enjoys when YOU do it._ Penny just shook her head, now officially out of ways to be surprised. Well, if Samus decided that her lap was the best place to sleep, Penny wasn’t about to dispute it.

“Sleep tight, Lady,” Penny said in the softest whisper, as if she was afraid that someone would hear. She carefully slouched a little to make herself more comfortable, and kept gently running her hand through Samus’ hair until sleep took her as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for reading again!
> 
> Kind of a slow chapter, I know, but that's why this one was extra long. Things will pick up soon, I promise, but I wanted to really close the loop between these two. Hope y'all are enjoying the nicknames as much as I am, and yes, "Lady" is canon and is from Metroid Fusion. I know that I technically brought up Adam by including it, but don't worry, that little passage is the last reference I'll make to The Bad Game for a long while at least. It'll be the last one at all if I can help it, but sadly Other M does tie in with a decent chunk of Samus' history. 
> 
> Thank you as always, and I hope to get Chapter 7 up as soon as I can!
> 
> -Red


	7. Contact

“Are you ready?” Samus asked. Penny nodded, putting on the ship’s headset. She fixed her hair, using the visor of Samus’ helmet as a mirror.

Samus entered a series of commands on the ship’s console, and the ship’s main window became a heads-up display full of static.

“This is Princess Penelope Stargazer of Chora,” Penny said, her voice proud and clear. She had a longer title than that, but she figured that three words of it was enough. “Does anyone read me?” For a moment, there was only static, but then she heard a voice.

“This is Communications Officer Darwon Phenix of Chora, I read you! Can I get a confirmation on your identity? You were breaking up for a minute there.”

“Her Ladyship, Princess Penelope Rosaline Stargazer,” Penny replied evenly, almost feeling Samus’ eyebrow raise at her middle name. “I’m aboard a hunter-class gunship with a bounty hunter by the name of Samus Aran. I’d like to speak to my fathers, if that’s possible.”

“Princess Stargazer!” The voice replied, somewhere between shock and elation. “Of course, ma’am, I’ll radio Castle Constella and patch you through right away!” Penny heard some rumbling on the other line as the man she’d spoken to likely ran off to get somebody. The picture on the other end was still too grainy to make out.

Samus couldn’t help herself. “Castle Constella?”

Penny sighed. “Supposedly, the royal family descended from the first astronomers on Chora, hundreds of thousands of years ago. It’s where the surname comes from. It‘s a little gauche, but it does let me justify using string lights as decorations.” Samus just chuckled, before returning to her stoic warrior persona, and Penny adopted her serious royal countenance in kind.

The other line rustled again, and the man’s voice returned. “Ma’am? We’ve gotten a hold of the castle, and I’m patching you through now. We’re all so glad to hear that you’re okay!”

“Thank you,” Penny replied, giving a shallow curtsy, even though she figured the man still couldn’t really see her. “It’s good to be okay.”

There was more static, and finally, Penny was greeted with the grainy image of her father’s face, turned away from the camera to yell something behind him.

“- don’t CARE about the Council meeting, they’ve found our daughter! I - Penelope!” His face softened immediately as he noticed her. Penny smiled, her eyes already a bit wet.

“Hey, Dad.” She said, already holding back a happy sob. “Is… is Papa -”

“Yes, he’s here, we just had to drag him out of a council meeting,” her father said. Penny’s heart did a flip. They were alive, both of them.

“Daniel?” Came a voice from offscreen. “Is it true, did they find her?”

“Yes, it’s her, get over here!” A second man crashed into frame, as if he’d been running. He was taller than the first man, which was amplified as he placed a hand on the back of his husband’s chair and leaned over his shoulder to see the screen.

“Oh, stars above, Penelope, it _is_ you,” the taller man said. His shoulders visibly relaxed once he recognized her, as if he hadn’t wanted to allow himself to believe it until he was certain that it was true.

The shorter man, ever the worrywart, immediately barraged her with questions. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you? What happened?”

 

Penny laughed, despite herself. They really were the same old Dad and Papa, after everything. “Yes, Dad, I’m totally fine,” She said. “Though I’m afraid I can’t say the same for my old dress.”

“As long as you’re all right, sweetie,” her taller dad replied. “And what exactly _are_ you wearing?”

“I’ll explain later,” Penny said. “I’m just glad to hear that you’re both still here.”

 

* * *

 

Samus tried her best not to be noticed during Penny’s heartfelt reunion with her parents. It was a private moment between the three of them, and she didn’t want to intrude. Penny would introduce her when the initial reunion was over, and Samus figured it would simply be best to pretend she wasn’t there while they had that emotional moment.

She also tried not to feel _too_ jealous. She was very happy for Penny, but she had essentially lost three parental figures at Ridley’s hands. She had honestly figured that Ridley’s crew would have killed at least one of Penny’s fathers, just based on chance. But if they had been far enough away, it was likely that he hadn’t bothered with going out of his way to find them. He was nothing if not efficient.

To occupy herself while Penny caught her parents up, Samus took in their appearances. The shorter man, the one she’d heard be called “Daniel,” had elegant straight hair. It was pink, but a darker shade than Penny’s, and streaked with grey. He’d pulled the front section back into a bun, though it was slowly coming out from its elastic, likely because he’d ran to the console. He had a long, narrow face, full of angles and edges. However, his eyes were still kind, and Samus noticed smile lines on his face as well.

The second man, the taller one, had shorter brown hair. It found its way into his eyes about once a minute or so, and he brushed it out with a practiced gesture. While it was clear that his husband had given Penny her hair’s color, he was definitely the one who gave her her curls. His eyes were the same green-flecked gold as Penny’s, and Samus could feel a strong, yet gentle aura flowing from them. His face was softer, but he still had an elegant, noble chin. Samus also noticed that while his shoulders were narrower than his husband’s, this man was built like a barrel. She was briefly reminded of some of the meathead cadets that she’d met in the Federation, but there was a wisdom to this man’s countenance that suggested that he was not about to ask her how much weight she could deadlift in a standard gravitational environment, nor would he be disappointed to learn that her number was higher than his own.

 

“... and that’s when Samus here saved me.” Penny said. Samus tuned back in at the mention of her name.

“Ah, Samus Aran,” the taller man said. “We saw that you had responded to our distress signal, but you were already out of range before my husband and I learned of it. Thank you for bringing our daughter home. How can we ever repay you?”

“It’s what I do, Your Majesty,” Samus replied. She smiled under her helmet. “And as for payment, credits will work fine.”

“Indeed,” the shorter man replied, smiling at her joke. “We can discuss your payment later. My name is King Daniel Stargazer of Chora, and this is my husband, King Jacob Stargazer. We would be honored if you would join us for a feast on the evening of your arrival, so that we may properly thank you for returning our daughter to us.”

“That’s quite a generous offer, Your Grace,” she replied, hoping that she’d remembered the right title for the right man like Penny had taught her, “but I’m afraid that I have a very urgent summons from the Galactic Federation, regarding an important, classified mission. Once I drop Princess Stargazer off on Chora, I’ll have to answer it as quickly as possible.”

“I see,” King Jacob replied, disappointed but understanding. “Well, we wouldn’t want to keep the Federation waiting. Thank you very much. I suppose that we’ll see you and our daughter in twenty-four hours, then.”

Samus couldn’t resist. “With all due respect, your Majesty, our arrival time will be closer to twelve hours from now.”

“You just entered our range,” the king replied, impressed. “That must be a remarkably fast ship. Hunter-class?”

“Indeed,” Samus replied. “It’s a custom model, and I’ve made some modifications myself.”

 

Penny rolled her eyes. “Okay, Papa, you’re embarrassing me,” she said. “Oh, also, there’s one other thing.”

“Other thing?” King Daniel asked, perking up. He had also apparently been just as interested in the discussion of gunship specifications as his daughter.

“Yes,” Samus said. “I’m afraid that your daughter was not the only woman that the Pirates had kidnapped.”

Penny nodded solemnly, trying not to sound like they’d rehearsed this bit. “There was another girl in there with me, her name is Samantha Brooks. She was taken first, and she looked out for me while the Pirates held us captive. She… she doesn’t really have anywhere else to go.”

Penny watched her dad’s heart break. “Oh, sweetie, that’s terrible! We can take her in.”

King Jacob nodded in agreement. “Of course,” he said. “May I ask what happened, why she has nowhere else to go?”

Penny looked down for a moment, and then said, “She was from a mining colony. The Pirates destroyed the entire colony, and killed everyone except for her. The planet is basically uninhabited now.” That hung in the air for a moment, and nobody touched it.

 

“Well,” King Daniel said to break the silence, “Tell Samantha that she is welcome on Chora for as long as she would like to stay. Can we meet her?”

“Not right now,” Penny said, a little too quickly. “She’s asleep at the moment. We got used to taking shifts so that one of us was always awake to watch the Pirates.”

“Well, tell her that we’re preparing a welcome banquet and a guest room for her, right next to yours,” King Jacob said, and then looked to someone offscreen with a “you will do this thing right now” sort of look. There was a pattering of footsteps, and a door closed swiftly.

“I’m afraid that you’ll have to be in a guest room too, honey,” King Daniel said. “Those monsters made quite a mess of yours, and we’re still repairing it.”

“That’s perfectly all right,” Penny said. “As long as mine is the big guest room.”

“I’m afraid that our Grand Arbiter’s suite is currently occupied by the Grand Arbiter of the Council himself, and his wife and son,” King Jacob said, “so you’ll have to settle for one of the queen-sized beds.”

“Oh, the horror,” Penny said, as if she hadn’t been comfortably sharing a full with Samus for the past few nights. “I suppose I shall have to make do.”

“That’s our girl,” King Daniel said with a grin. “We’re just so happy that you’re okay.”

King Jacob bent down on one knee, wrapping his arm over his husband’s shoulder.

“We missed you terribly,” he agreed.

“I missed you too,” Penny said, her eyes getting wet again. “I’ll be home real soon! I promise!”

“We know, sweetie,” King Daniel replied, leaning in to his husband’s embrace. “We love you.”

“Love you too, Dads,” she said. “We’ve got to go, Samus told me that maintaining a connection like this takes some power away from the engines.”

“Of course,” King Jacob said, nodding. “See you soon, Penelope.”

“See you soon.” Penny replied. She looked over at Samus, who nodded and turned off the radio.

 

* * *

 

Samus let her armor fade, and flicked the ship’s autopilot back on. She stood up, and was about to say something before Penny’s body crashed into her own, the princess nearly crushing the warrior in her embrace.

“They’re _alive,_ ” Penny said. “They’re alive.”

Samus paused for a moment, then tentatively returned Penny’s hug. “I know. I’m so happy for you, Penny.”

“I know, I know, it’s just…” she sniffled a little. Samus gently patted Penny’s back, not sure if that would accomplish anything. “I just didn’t know what had happened, and I was so _worried,_ and now that they’re okay it’s like I’m suddenly imagining everything that _could_ have happened, and…” she hugged Samus tighter. Samus tried very hard not to notice that Penny’s face had ended up squarely in-between her breasts.

“It’s okay,” the bounty hunter said gently. “It’s okay. You didn’t want to think about it before now, and now that you have, everything is catching up and you’re thinking about all of it, all at once.”

“Yeah,” Penny said, unable to form a more coherent thought.

“It’s okay,” Samus repeated. “You can feel this. You are allowed to feel this.” She slowly brought one hand up to Penny’s head, and began to softly stroke the other woman’s hair.

“They’re okay, but they might not have been, and that’s a real, scary thing to think about. When you’re ready, we can make lunch.”

“I still need a minute,” Penny said, a bit of shame in her voice.

“Take all the time you need.”

 

* * *

 

“So, I’m… I’m really doing this, huh?” Samus said, breaking the silence of their meal.

“Hmm?” Penny asked, through her mouthful of sandwich. She was delighted to be having food that didn’t require re-hydration for once. Samus paused for a moment, quite literally looking off into space.

“This. Going to Chora, living there as ‘Samantha Brooks,’ all of it. I’m a genetically modified bounty hunter and I’m going to spend months living in the home of the royal family of Chora. Penny, you’re sure that you’re willing to lie to your parents for _months_ just to… give me some time off?”

“I lie to my dads all the time,” Penny said, after she swallowed her food. “They’re wonderful guys, but they’re still… _my dads._ What am I supposed to say when they ask me to join them at a state dinner? ‘Actually, Papa, I’m hiding another woman in the skirts of my dress at the moment, would you allow me five minutes to let her climb out the window before I join you,’ or ‘In a minute, I want to powder my nose?’”

Samus looked as if she’d been shot by her own Paralyzer. Penny took a sip from her drink, a devious smile on her face. The story had _definitely_ created the reaction that Penny was hoping for, based on the color of Samus’ cheeks.

The bounty hunter blinked for a moment and said, “... be that as it may, my question still stands. Do you really think this will work?”

“Yes,” Penny said, without the slightest hesitation. “I’ve already thought about a fair amount of it, actually. I’m going to talk to my tailor and they can help fit you with some new clothes…” Samus looked very concerned at this. She ever so slightly wrapped her hands around her Zero Suit, as if Penny was threatening to take it away from her.

“You can keep that suit, I promise. I just think you should probably also have something _else_ to wear sometimes. You look great in a bodysuit and blue is definitely your color...” Samus blushed again and Penny smiled internally. “... but ladies generally wear dresses to finer events.”

Samus pictured herself in a dress. Penny pictured Samus in a dress.

Both of them enjoyed it very much.

“I can teach you to waltz, tango, and foxtrot in the smaller ballroom. I’m sure most of your workout is, y’know, fighting people to the death, but there’s a large pond outside the castle where you can swim laps, and we have plenty of indoor space for various aerobics if you want to stay in shape and all that. I have a weekly piano lesson that you’re welcome to attend, I can lend you some of my favorite books, and... we can go from there.”

Penny softened. “However, if you’re really, really unsure about it all, I can just say that Samantha was offered a place to stay by the Federation, and she took it. If you really want, you don’t have to stay on Chora. You can just drop me off at home, and we can just go our separate ways from there.”

 _But I really, really hope you don’t do that,_ Penny added, to herself. She knew that she couldn’t make Samus stay with her, and anything she did to try and force things her way would be wrong. But, there was _something_ between them, wasn’t there? The feelings Penny had for Samus, those were at least _somewhat_ mutual, weren’t they?

She met Samus’ gaze, trying desperately not to seem like she was probing the bounty hunter’s feelings. Samus was definitely deep in thought, and Penny wanted to respect that, but her doubts about the other woman’s true feelings were also killing her.

 

“I’ll stay,” Samus said at last, and Penny tried not to physically heave in relief. “You’re right, I… I really do need some time off.” She smiled weakly. “And since it seems like you have almost everything figured out…” Penny nodded enthusiastically, as if doing so would further convince Samus to stay, “... I guess I won’t really have much to worry about.”

“You won’t,” Penny promised. “And you can stay for as long as you want.”

 _Forever, if you like,_ she thought to herself.

 

* * *

 

Samus stared up at the ceiling. The only sound in her world was Penny’s gentle breathing, her cheek resting on Samus’ breast. She couldn’t sleep, too concerned with her future. Penny had opened her eyes to the possibility of, well, of planning ahead. She’d never truly had the time in her life to stop and think about what she wanted to do with it.

Ever since she was a little girl, Samus’ only goal had been revenge. Ridley had taken everything from her - her parents, her first home, her adoptive parent, and her adoptive home. But, as she was slowly beginning to realize, it was quite difficult to base one’s whole existence on revenge, even if it was against a gigantic, objectively evil space dragon. Especially when he seemed to have such trouble staying dead.

 _I haven’t JUST spent my life trying to kill Ridley,_ she thought to herself. _I also got rid of the X Parasite, killed the last of the Metroids twice…_

 _Allowed the Chozo to disappear, was directly responsible for the creation of Dark Samus,_ her subconscious replied. _Some savior you are._

Samus forced the intrusive thoughts away, Nobody knew why or how the Chozo had disappeared. Samus couldn’t blame herself for that. If she’d been given the opportunity to stop it, she would have. And as for Dark Samus, it wasn’t as though she’d invited Metroid Prime to steal her Phazon Suit and her DNA. She was the one who’d defeated Dark Samus, and then she’d had to kill it _again_ when those idiots at the Federation brought it back to life.

Samus suddenly realized that she’d spent almost all of her life either pursuing Ridley or cleaning up someone else’s mistake.

Not that there was anything inherently wrong with the adventures that she’d had, and her deeds had needed doing, but... Samus realized that her heart wasn’t in it, in a sense. She cared about people, obviously, She cared about saving innocent lives. But the thing that Penny had said to her… “you’re a person too…” it had resonated with her in a very strange way. People had been enjoying galactic peace for decades, and she’d been an integral part in maintaining that, but… she’d never actually taken the time to sit back and enjoy it before.

 _Well, you’ve never had a place to go before,_ she realized. She looked down at Penny, slumbering happily in her arms. _And now you do._

Samus looked back up at the ceiling. She shook her head. _Penny Stargazer, you sure are something._

 

* * *

 

“Ready?” Penny asked. The gunship was about to touch down. Samus had already pre-programmed a route into the ship’s computer. It would fly itself out of Chora’s atmosphere and orbit one of Chora’s more distant moons. Samus could call it back remotely whenever she needed it, just in case.

“I’m ready,” Samus said after a moment. She paused, noticing that Penny’s hands were empty. “Don’t you want to take your book?”

“No,” Penny said. “I left it in the bedroom. I want you to read it when you’re ready to come back here.”

“A lot of the food is going to go bad,” Samus mused. She’d slightly overstocked the perishable goods on their supply run.  
“Such is the temporary nature of our brief, fleeting existence,” Penny said, in a fake dramatic lament. “Come on, you, stop stalling.” She took Samus’ hand. “You’re going to love it here, I promise.”

They walked out of the ship together, hand in hand. Samus pressed a button on a small remote control, and the ship’s thrusters engaged, lifting off. Penny’s hair whipped around her head, and Samus held her bangs out of her eyes with her other hand. Both of them watched it hover a few hundred feet in the air before it turned on a dime and blasted off into the stratosphere.

“It’s so green here,” Samus noted wistfully. She looked down and saw that her Jet Boots were surrounded by tall blades of grass. They were standing in a clearing, but there was a rather dense forest behind them. Samus could make out the pond that Penny had mentioned earlier, and the yellow walls of Castle Castella were visible in the distance.

“It’s a pretty green planet,” Penny agreed. She smiled up at her companion. “Come on, Sam,” she said, squeezing her hand.

 

“Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: why have chapter titles when you could just forget to like an idiot. Fixed it lol sorry
> 
> Welcome to Chora.
> 
> I figured it's about time we left Samus' gunship, and I appreciate everyone's patience as I took my time getting this far. Don't worry, there is plenty more in store for these two, and it isn't all just fluff and comfort.
> 
> There WILL be fluff, though. And comfort. 
> 
> Seriously, thank you so much for getting this far, and I can't wait for you all to see what's coming next!
> 
> -Red
> 
> P.S. Yes, there is a canon character named "Dark Samus," and no, that actually wasn't handled nearly as terribly as you would think based on the name


	8. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight trigger warning:  
> The last few paragraphs of this chapter get a little... intense. I don't wanna get too spoiler-y, but this is where the Hurt/Comfort tag really starts coming into play.  
> I'll summarize what happened in the next chapter, so if you feel like you want to stop reading, feel free to do so, and I promise you won't miss anything that you aren't intending to miss.  
> Thank you, and enjoy the chapter.
> 
> -Red

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests,” the herald cried over the din of the party. “It is my true honor and pleasure to once again present…” he stepped to the side, bowing and gesturing to a hallway behind him, “Her esteemed Ladyship, returned to us once more, Princess Penelope Rosaline Stargazer!” A polite but enthusiastic applause immediately ensued.

Penny stepped out at her cue, dipping into a curtsy. Despite her absence, the gesture was just as elegant and practiced as always, and the crowd cheered. She smiled out at them, ever the performer. It _was_ nice to be in a proper ball gown again, though Penny couldn’t help but feel only tepid joy at the occasion. She was glad to be back and safe, but the event didn’t feel quite as genuine as the first call with her fathers. These people cheered for her, certainly, but they did not _know_ her. They may “love” her, in an abstract sense, and many of them likely did. But there was still an ever-present barrier between them, Penny knew, and she always kept it in mind with gatherings like these.

“And, of course, your esteemed rulers…” The herald began, clearly trying to play to the crowd. “With a special guest!” His eyes practically twinkled. “His Majesty, King Jacob Ashfield Renaud Stargazer, and His Grace, King Daniel Frances Atwood Stargazer!” The crowd roared as the kings approached. Penny smiled, despite herself. She knew that her fathers were well-loved. They were good, just men, and the tale of their romance was a unique one, which the public adored.

“And, esteemed ladies and distinguished gentlemen,” the herald continued, as if he were somehow telling a secret while also shouting over a crowd. “May I introduce their ward, the Lady Samantha Brooks!”

Normally, the kings made their entrances at functions like this hand-in-hand, but this time was different. This time, each king walked on either side of a blond-haired woman in a pale, blue gown. Penny noted that _both_ men had been given a somewhat generous heel to not be totally dwarfed by Samus, and only King Jacob actually equaled her height.

Penny also noticed that Samus was remarkably timid. Her signature ponytail was gone, her hair spilling down her back like a waterfall. Samus’ bangs were mostly covering her left eye, though Penny figured that Samus had allowed that to happen on purpose, as a way to somewhat hide her face in her nervousness.

The applause at Samus’ entrance with the kings was quite enthusiastic, though Penny did observe some mumblings between guests. The kings had never taken in a ward before, so the surprise was perfectly understandable. She tried not to be concerned with it.

King Jacob raised a hand out over the crowd, demanding silence. He got it almost immediately. “Hello, everyone,” the king announced, in contrast to the somewhat overdone pageantry that had preceded him. “As previously announced, we would like to introduce you to our ward.”

King Daniel picked up the thread. “She, like our daughter Penelope, was kidnapped by the Space Pirates, and was rescued alongside our princess.” He waited for that to sink in, and there were a few rumblings. “Samantha’s home was left uninhabited by the Pirates’ attack, but she protected our princess with her life until their rescue. We owe her a great debt.” The rumblings continued at that, but King Jacob silenced it almost immediately, and placed a protective hand on Samus’ shoulder.

“Therefore, we have taken Samantha in, and she is welcome on Chora for as long as she chooses to stay. We treat her as if she was our own, and we request that all of you do the same.” The last statement, judging by the king’s tone, was anything but a request.

“So come, stay, and enjoy the festivities,” King Daniel continued. “Celebrate our daughter’s safe return home.” Both men smiled at that.

“Try the wine,” King Jacob said, and with that, the announcement was through, and the party’s atmosphere returned to normal.

 

Penny suppressed a laugh as Samus made a beeline for her, as she’d only been a few feet away the entire time. “I told you you’d look fantastic,” Penny said at the other woman’s approach.

“Thank you,” Samus replied sheepishly. After a moment, she said, “I had no idea there would be so many people.” Penny laughed.

“Yes, well, princesses don’t quite return from kidnappings every day,” Penny replied dryly. “So even with just two days’ notice…” she gestured out at the throng of people. Samus looked very timid again, so Penny decided to change the subject.

“Are you sure you’re comfortable with the whole ‘ward’ thing?” Penny asked. “I know Dad insisted, but…”

“Well, I can hardly object now,” Samus replied. “Your dad just announced it in front of a thousand people.”

“That’s true, I suppose.” Penny laughed. “But, hey. My dads took you in so formally because they really do care for you, and I’m afraid that people would talk if you just kinda hung around the castle without being formally announced. Better to get it out of the way now than to beat around the bush.” Samus nodded, still nervous, but conceding the point.

“Besides,” Penny said, nudging her a little. “You certainly do look the part. Even if it did take a bit of a process.” She laughed a little, recalling the affair.

 

* * *

 

“So,” Quinn said. “Penelope tells me that you have no other clothes than… this.” They may have scoffed slightly as they gestured to her Zero Suit.

“Um, that’s right, yeah...” Samus replied. Penny found it adorable that the tailor, despite being almost nine inches shorter than Samus, made the bounty hunter nervous.

It was probably their fashion sense. Quinn wore an elegant, flowy pair of white hakama, the cut just short enough to not obscure their polished black shoes. This formal look was tastefully contrasted by their top half, covered only by a black tank top that reached precisely halfway down their torso. They also had a fabric pencil behind their ear (though Penny suspected that it was there more for fashion than for function) and a measuring tape was holstered at their left hip. Lastly, they wore a slick pair of glasses with a rectangular frame. Penny knew they owned several pairs in several colors, and today they had chosen a cherry red.

 

“I see,” Quinn replied. “And what sort of styles did you like to wear before we met?” Penny smiled, already able to see where this was going.

“I… er… I never really thought about it.” Samus said. “I was born on a mining colony, so… mostly greys?” Penny could tell Samus was stretching her memory, since it had been so long since she had lived on the mining colony, but Quinn didn’t notice.

In fact, Quinn immediately made a small retching sound at the word “greys,” and quickly shook their head twice. “Disgusting.” They turned to Penny. “This is even more dire than I thought.”

“We came to you as quickly as we could,” Penny said, suppressing a smile.

 

Quinn turned on their heel and walked past Samus. The bounty hunter followed them with her gaze, until she had almost turned completely around.

“Face forward,” Quinn said brusquely, grabbing Samus’ hips and centering her with a practiced gesture. Samus made a little “eep!” sound, somewhere between surprised and embarrassed, as she was suddenly forced into facing Penny. The princess watched Samus’ cheeks reddened as Penny giggled at her.

“Arms out,” Quinn ordered, taking out their measuring tape.

Samus obeyed, and Quinn took some quick measurements.

“You are remarkably tall,” they observed. “Penelope, the rack labelled ‘26,’ if you’d please. Second to last column, on the right.”

“On it,” Penny replied, turning to leave. Samus immediately took on a panicked expression, but Penny just grinned and turned to leave the large, circular chamber. “Should I grab a shoe rack, too?”

“Not yet,” Quinn replied. “The measuring tool, for now. I want to be precise.”

 

Penny returned a moment later from Quinn’s back room with a piece of metal meant for measuring shoe sizes in one hand, pulling a long rack of clothing on wheels behind her with the other.

“See anything you like?” Quinn asked, still measuring Samus. They had moved on to more detailed measurements, like the width of her wrists, and were taking notes on a small pad.

Samus didn’t say anything, too focused on keeping her head straight. Penny, knowing that the question had been meant for her, began to idly flick through the rack.

“She does look good in blue,” Penny commented, pulling off a blue ball gown.

“Excellent choice,” Quinn said, knowing the dress that Penny had selected without having to really look up. “At least _you_ have taken my teachings to heart. Your poor fathers still struggle to dress themselves in the morning without me.”

“Well, some things never change,” Penny mused.

 

Quinn let Samus go at last, and the bounty hunter’s posture visibly relaxed once they stepped away. It’s not that she was against the concept of being measured, but Quinn was an intimidating presence until one became used to them. Especially when one found themselves in Quinn’s domain.

“Try the dress that Penelope selected first,” Quinn said, as if they were prescribing  medicine. “And we’ll go from there.” They gestured to a changing screen near one end of the room. Samus was still stuck in place.

“It’s okay, Sam,” Penny said, approaching slowly, with the dress draped over one arm. “Do you want me to take your boots?” Samus nodded, bending down to remove them. Once she was done, she handed them over, and Penny traded with her. She nervously smiled at Penny as she took the dress, and Penny waved her towards the changing screen reassuringly.

 

“Those are very odd boots,” Quinn noted as they stood next to Penny, ready to observe. She shrugged. “The bounty hunter had them on hand,” she lied.

“May I see them?” They asked. Penny handed them over, seeing no reason to deny the request. “Very interesting... “ they replied, turning one boot over in their hands. “This bounty hunter had quite an odd taste in footwear.” There was a glimpse of _something_ behind their eyes, but before Penny could inquire about it, Quinn had moved on.

“It would appear that they also had a similar taste in clothing,” they remarked of Penny’s Zero Suit. She hadn’t yet had the time to change herself, too focused on Samus.

“Mm?” Penny asked. “Oh, yes. I dunno, I was suspicious at first, but it’s grown on me.”

“Has it, really?” They replied, concerned.

“Honestly!” Penny said, sheepish. “It’s remarkably comfortable, and the material is quite breathable."

“It was custom-made,” Samus voice floated out from behind the changing screen. “Or so I was told.”

“I see…” Quinn said, inspecting Penny’s suit more closely now. They felt up and down her arm, in an attempt to identify the material. “A… unique blend…” they said after a moment, surprised and insulted that they hadn’t been able to guess it right away. Suddenly, their eyes met Penny’s. “May I see yours, Penelope, once we’re done here?”

“I don’t see why not,” she said, a little taken aback by their sudden interest. “I didn’t know you did… combat gear.”

“It never hurts to branch out,” they said breezily. “I’m always hunting for new materials. Surely you must know this.” Penny chuckled.

“Fair enough.” She looked back to the changing screen, and saw that Samus’ Zero Suit had been gently draped over the edge.

 

“I, ah… I need a hand with the zipper,” came Samus’ voice, nervously floating out from behind the screen. Before she could even think, Penny’s legs were already moving, carrying her to the other woman’s aid. “Coming!” her mouth said, and Penny blinked at how automatic it all was.

When she delicately turned the corner, Samus was looking over her left shoulder, holding the garment up and against her chest. Penny immediately went on a roller coaster of emotions when she saw Samus’ bare, muscular back. The sight alone stopped her dead in her tracks.

She’d always known Samus was remarkably strong. The bounty hunter had physically carried Penny during a dead sprint as if she was made of paper, for goodness’ sake. But still, actually _seeing_ Samus’ ridiculously toned physique made a thousand fireworks explode all at once in her brain.

Penny physically shook the stars from her eyes and immediately busied herself with the dress’ zipper. She carefully pushed Samus’ ponytail to the side and zipped up. Her hand slid from Samus’ waist to her upper back, smooth as silk. Samus let her arms fall, and shook a little to get the garment to sit properly. She turned.

“So?” Samus asked. “How do I look?”

 

If Penny’s previous glance at Samus outside of the Zero Suit had made her heart skip a beat, then seeing her in the full gown made Penny flatline.

The garment was a similar light blue to the Zero Suit, but made from tulle and satin instead of tough, malleable fibers. It balanced ever so delicately off of Samus’ shoulders, travelling elegantly downwards to demurely cover her breasts with an inviting “V” shape, leaving her collarbones exposed. It contoured to her torso like a lover, but flared out dramatically at her waistline, reaching a few feet in diameter by the time it made it to the floor. The outer skirt was painstakingly embroidered with several abstract, symmetrical designs in white.

Samus Aran looked like a bona fide princess, and Penny would know.

 

“I… it’s… Sam, I…” Penny fumbled for words like she was a failed juggler. The bounty hunter’s eyes filled with a mix of concern and disappointment.

“You don’t like it?” Samus asked.

“No!” Penny blurted, seizing Samus by the shoulders. She let go quickly, and blinked a few times, shaking her head. “I _love_ it. You look _gorgeous,_ Sam.” The bounty hunter smiled wanly, timidly playing with her hair.

“You really think so?” She said. Wordlessly, Penny took her hand and practically dragged her out from behind the changing screen. Quinn had already retrieved a full-length mirror, which they held up before Samus, a knowing smile on their lips. Samus gasped, as if something had literally stolen all the air from her lungs.

 

* * *

 

It was as if Samus was seeing herself for the first time. She’d never worn a dress before, and when Penny had handed her the large, delicate, impractical garment, she’d been so unsure. At some point behind the changing screen, when she’d removed her Zero Suit for the first non-shower occasion in years, Samus had resolved to herself that she was just going to dive in to all of this, no matter what. She’d never been one to do things halfway.

But now… seeing herself like this… Samus was speechless. Obviously, she’d never worn anything like it, and she’d never really been one for vanity. But, she had to admit, there _was_ something to the way that the garment hugged her, and the feeling of walking in a large skirt was incredibly foreign, but she didn’t mind it. She’d thought that the gown would be incredibly restrictive, and while that was true in some respects (she certainly couldn’t imagine summoning the Power Suit over it), it was also oddly freeing. Her legs were bare underneath the skirt, and the feeling of the soft, inner material swishing against them as she walked was actually quite nice. Her arms were also mostly unencumbered, and it was quite refreshing to touch and feel things without gloves.

She must have spent at least five minutes just quietly watching herself in the mirror, checking from this angle and that, swishing the gown around gently, flipping her ponytail from one side of her shoulder to the other.

“Ahem,” came Quinn’s voice, from behind the mirror. “If you are quite finished, there is more to try on.” Samus immediately flushed, and realized that Quinn’s arms must have been quite tired by now.

“Sorry!” She said immediately. “I just… it’s all very new to me.”

“It’s okay,” Penny said, taking the mirror from Quinn. She gave Samus a pure, wonderful, heartwarming smile. “You’re doing great.” She giggled. “Only about thirty more outfits to go! Then, shoes!”

Samus immediately panicked, and Penny just smiled. “I’ll leave you to it!” She said, bouncing out of the room.

 

* * *

 

Samus blinked away the memory, and Penny took her hand. Samus nearly short-circuited. It was the first time they’d had real skin-to-skin contact, and Penny’s hand was impossibly soft, yet confident.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go meet some guests.”

Samus nearly stumbled as the princess confidently led her through the crowd, her movement somehow effortless, even though her gown was just as impractical as Samus’. She gave several people little waves as she went, and seemed to know a little about most of the people she waved to. They would quickly exchange pleasantries with Penny as they moved past, and it was all Samus could do to hang on to her.

 

They spent nearly an hour mingling, and Penny never left her side. Samus met more people in that hour than she had spoken to in the last decade or so. It was definitely a lot all at once, but Penny kept Samus grounded and made sure she never felt overwhelmed. At last, they found themselves at a table off to the side, in relative solitude.

“How’re you doing?” Penny asked, for around the twelfth time that night.

“Good,” Samus said, as if she had just finished a difficult but satisfying workout. “I think I’m good here, for a minute.” Penny nodded.

“Why don’t I grab us both something to drink?” Penny asked. Samus nodded, ready to follow. “It’s okay,” Penny said. “You can stay here. I’m sure your feet are killing you.” Samus nodded gratefully, and Penny just smiled before she walked away. Her movements showed none of the same fatigue that Samus’ did, and the bounty hunter was amazed at that as she watched Penny go.

She had a moment to herself, finally, and chose to spend it watching the crowd mill about. She let her mind wander as she awaited Penny’s return, and that was probably why she didn’t notice that anyone had approached until she heard someone with a very deep voice clear their throat and say, “Pardon me. Lady Brooks, I presume?”

Samus stood up straight, not even realizing that she’d begun to lean against the table behind her. “I’m sorry!” she said, turning to her left to face the speaker. “I was lost in my own thoughts, I suppose.”

 

“That’s quite all right,” the man before her chuckled. He was quite a bit older than Penny’s parents, sporting a full, white beard. It was elegantly trimmed, and contrasted well against his bold, black clothing. The woman on his arm wore white with small accents of black, most notably her grey-streaked raven hair. They both had warm eyes and kind smiles.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the man said. “I am Grand Arbiter Rupert Blackburn.” He offered his hand to Samus, and she placed her own on top of it, just as Penny had shown her. The man bent down slightly and gave her hand a grandfatherly kiss. With that pleasantry out of the way, he added, “And this is my wife, Daphne.”

“A pleasure,” Daphne said, dropping her husband’s arm to give Samus a small, dignified curtsy. Samus did her best to reply in kind.

“Ah!” Samus said, recalling when Penny’s father had mentioned the Grand Arbiter previously. “Yes, I’ve heard of you before. Penny’s da- er, King Stargazer mentioned that you were visiting.”

“Indeed,” Arbiter Blackburn replied. His eye twinkled a little at her verbal slip-up, but he seemed to find Samus’ mistake endearing rather than insulting. “My apologies - we would have come by to introduce ourselves sooner, but _some_ members of the Council insist on discussing policy, even at an occasion such as this. I can’t help but get riled up on this tax bill that’s being proposed, it’s really-”

Daphne smacked her husband’s arm, admonishing him. “Rupert! Don’t bore the poor girl with Council politics. I’m sure she doesn’t want you to explain all the maths to her, especially since I am always the one who first explains them to you.” The Arbiter smiled sheepishly.

“Well, numbers were never my strong suit,” he admitted.

 

Samus found the pair a little off-putting, but in a charming way, somehow. Fortunately, she didn’t have to continue their conversation after that exchange, because Penny returned.

“Ah, Grand Arbiter Blackburn!” Penny said as she approached. She handed a crystal wine glass (full of water, thankfully) to Samus, and then offered the Arbiter her hand to kiss. She curtsied in time with Daphne, and Samus took a greedy sip of her water as Penny continued.

“I’m so glad that you two are on our corner of the planet,” Penny said.

“As are we!” Daphne replied. A little quieter, she added, “I figure you’ve heard this plenty of times tonight, but my husband and I were so worried for you, and are delighted to hear that you made it home safe.”

“Indeed,” the Grand Arbiter said, echoing his wife. His countenance darkened. “And I sincerely hope that the cowards who would take two innocent, beautiful girls from their homes are brought to justice.”

Samus couldn’t help but smile. “Well, their leader _did_ eat a mouthful of superheated plasma,” she said. The couple before them each raised an eyebrow in unison, but Penny came to her rescue once more.

“When we were rescued, the bounty hunter who saved us used plasma weapons,” she supplied. “Our captor was a monstrous, dragon-like creature, but the bounty hunter, ah, _dealt_ with him quite handily.”

“Well, as long as you both are all right.” Daphne said. “Well, I’m afraid we must be going. Council business waits for no one, not even for us.”

“Indeed,” her husband said mournfully. “But it was lovely seeing you home safe, Penelope. And lovely meeting you as well, Samantha.” He lowered his voice and leaned in. “Years ago, I made this offer to Penelope, and I extend it now to you. If you ever need anything that you believe we may be able to provide, please, do not hesitate to reach out to us. The kings formally appointed us Penelope’s godparents. Such a formal affair may not be necessary in your case, as you are now grown, but still. If anything should happen, you may use our home as your own.”

Samus was taken aback by the sincerity in his eyes. She looked to Penny and to Daphne, who both nodded enthusiastically at the sentiment.

“I… that’s… thank you very much,” Samus replied at last.

“It is my pleasure, child.” He said, the grandfatherly tone in his voice even more present.

“Now, we really must be going,” Daphne said, already steering her husband away. “Say ‘hello’ to our son Adrian, if you see him around! He’s too embarrassed to socialize with his mom and dad, but I’m sure he’d love to meet you.”

 

Penny and Samus watched the pair go.

“So… that was the Grand Arbiter and his wife,” Penny said after a moment. “They’re definitely… odd, but they’re very sweet. They mean well.”

“I could tell,” Samus said. “I just… I can’t believe that they welcomed me into their home so easily.”

“Well, they know my dads care about you, and that I care about you, and that’s enough, in their book.” Penny said. She playfully bumped her shoulder against Samus’. “This is part of why I brought you here. I wanted you to meet people like this. I wanted you to see that there are lots of people who are naturally kind.” She sighed. “Because it doesn’t seem like you got that reminder as often as you should.”

“I guess not,” Samus said. “Thank you.”

The pair met each others’ eyes for a moment. It was incredibly tender, and for a moment, Samus felt as if they were back on her ship, with no one around them but the stars.

The moment was lost when Penny checked their surroundings. Samus did the same, and saw that a few pairs of eyes were trained in their direction.

“Come on,” Penny said, trying to ignore her dampened spirits. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to show you.”

 

* * *

 

Penny took Samus’ hand once more, and led her outside, to a secluded balcony. She leaned her elbows on the stone railing, and gestured upwards. The sight quite literally took Samus’ breath away, and Penny couldn’t help but smile at the sound.

Above them, the entire galaxy gently turned, forever locked in its elegant, cosmic dance. Penny could have sworn that she could see every single planet in the Federation from out here, and Samus’ eyes were locked on the heavens.

Penny, on the other hand, couldn’t look at anything but Samus. She sidled up to the bounty hunter, trying to build up the nerve to make her move.

“It’s… it’s absolutely beautiful,” Samus said. “Penny… thank you. For showing me this.”

“Mm,” was Penny’s only reply. She rested her head on Samus’ shoulder, and Samus leaned in, resting her cheek on the crown of Penny’s head. She sighed in contentment, ready to watch the stars with Samus until the sun came up.

 

Suddenly, a pair of footsteps began to approach. Samus’ head whipped around, the bounty hunter’s instincts still razor-sharp. Penny quickly followed suit, separating herself from the bounty hunter.

The footsteps turned the corner and became a man, smartly dressed, confident smirk on his face. “Ah, my apologies!” he said. “I didn’t expect anyone else to be out here.”

“It’s quite all right,” Penny said, retreating once more into her royal persona. “Please, it’s a big balcony.”

“Thank you,” the man said, swaggering up to them both. “Princess Stargazer and Lady Brooks, I presume?”

“Indeed,” Penny confirmed, trying to ignore just how presumptive the man seemed to be. He was visibly older than both of them by a decade at least. “And you?”

“Adrian Blackburn,” he replied cordially. “Grand Arbiter Blackburn’s son.”  
“I see.” Penny said. “Forgive me, I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure.”

There wasn’t much space between them, but the man confidently took it up regardless. Both women awkwardly skirted to the side, Penny on the left and Samus on the right. Adrian leaned on the balcony, looking up at the stars.

“It’s a beautiful night,” he said.

“Quite,” Penny replied. She was making an effort not to appear curt, but still imply that the man wasn’t exactly welcome.

“But, not as beautiful as either of you,” he continued. A wicked, almost predatory grin began to slowly form on his face. Penny suddenly felt a little unsafe. “I have an idea,” he said, as if it had just occurred to him at that moment, which Penny doubted. “The party inside is getting quite dull, but I’m not ready to leave just yet. Why don’t the three of us find some place a little more... out of the way? I spotted a few guest bedrooms on my way in…”

As he trailed off, Adrian reached over and seized Penny’s waist. She gasped, immediately raising her arms up and hunching her shoulders. Her heart started to race, and the sensation of being kidnapped by Ridley - just _taken_ , as if she were an object to be possessed - came flooding back.

Apparently, Adrian had grabbed Samus as well, but she didn’t quite respond in the same way as Penny. The bounty hunter merely leveled her piercing gaze at the man. Her eyes narrowed, and she spoke, her voice low, determined, and smooth as silk.  
“Let us go. _Right. Now._ ”

“Ah, I don’t _think_ so,” Adrian replied with a chuckle, unfazed. “Come now, we wouldn’t want to make a fuss, would we?”

 

Almost before Adrian finished, Samus became a whirlwind of motion. Her right hand shoved Penny out of Adrian’s grip while her left elbow drove itself into his chest, just below his sternum. He immediately doubled over in pain. While he was there, Samus placed both hands on his shoulders and drove her knee upwards into his face, and Penny could have sworn she heard something crack. Adrian staggered backwards, shaking his head in a desperate attempt to get his bearings, but he was far too slow. Even encumbered by her gown, Samus still carried the momentum from her previous blow, planting her left foot and pivoting her hips into a hard right cross, quite literally knocking their assaulter flat.

Adrian landed with an audible “ _oof_ ” against the stone, winded. Samus immediately turned to Penny. The violence drained out of her, and she put a hand on the princess’ face. “You okay?” She asked. It was matter-of-fact, but still tender. Penny covered Samus’ hand with her own, nodding, and said,

“I will be in a moment.”

 

Taking a breath to calm her fears, Penny walked over to where Adrian was desperately trying to catch his breath. A thin trail of blood ran from his nose, likely from Samus’ knee. “You should have listened to her,” she said, surprised by how calm her voice was. She immediately carried that into her next statement. “You’re disgusting. What the _hell_ is wrong with you?”

 

“With _me?_ ” Adrian finally spluttered. “What the hell is wrong with _her?_ ”

“What, you’ve never had your ass kicked by a woman before?” She spat. “Well, then I hope this was a valuable lesson.”

“My… my father will hear about this!” He said at last. “I’ll, I’ll-”

“Oh yes,” Penny said with mock boredom. “Please _do_ tell your father about how you got the shit beaten out of you by a princess and a refugee. I’m _sure_ that he’ll take your side.” She let out a mirthless, angry laugh. “You’re a disgrace to his name. Get the hell out of my sight.”

 

Adrian was still breathing heavily, but he’d managed to prop himself up on his elbows. He wiped the blood out from under his nose. “You can’t keep hiding that _freak_ here forever!” He declared, before scrambling away, off into the castle. Penny watched him go, knowing that her fathers would never allow him in their castle ever again.

 

“Stars above, sorry about that,” Penny said, trying to make light of the situation. She turned to Samus. “That was one hell of a punch, by the way. Remind me to get you to teach it to me some time.”

Penny suddenly noticed that Samus was frozen in place, holding her right elbow with her left hand. Tears began to run down her cheeks.

“Hey, hey,” Penny said, immediately wrapping her arms around Samus. The bounty hunter didn’t change her position at all, she just absorbed the impact from Penny’s embrace. “He’s gone now, okay? I’ll talk to my dads later tonight and we’ll ban him from the castle. You won’t ever have to see or hear from him again. If he ever tries, I’ll make _sure_ he regrets it.”

She looked up at the other woman, but the tears continued to fall.

“Samus?” She asked. “What’s wrong?” It took the other woman a minute to reply, but Penny simply waited, knowing that the answer would come.

“It’s… it’s what he said,” she managed. “Calling me a… a freak.”

“You’re not a freak, Sam,” Penny replied immediately. “Don’t think about anything he said, alright? He’s just a gross jerk.” Samus let out a small sob, and Penny hugged her tighter, distressed. She’d never seen her like this before, and didn’t know what to do.

“Is… is it about the DNA thing?” Penny asked. “Because there’s no way he knows any of that, and even if he did, you have _nothing_ to be ashamed of, okay?”

“It’s… it’s kinda about that.” Samus said after a moment. “It’s a long story.”

“Then come with me,” Penny said, letting Samus go and taking her hand.

“Where are we going?” Samus asked dimly.

“My room,” Penny said matter-of-factly. “I’m going to help you take off that dress, get some water, wash your face, and then I will happily listen to you for as long as you want to talk. Okay?”

Samus looked at her. Her tears were still flowing, but she did manage a wan smile. She nodded.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you once again for reading! I almost didn't include the trigger warning in the beginning, but I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry. I hope that that didn't spoil too much of where the chapter was headed.  
> And as for the fic itself, well, it HAS been a few chapters since we've had a real, proper villain...
> 
> Samus' dress: https://www.slayingdress.org/products/elegant-v-neck-off-shoulder-light-blue-prom-dresses-ball-gowns
> 
> -Red


	9. Twilight Hours

Penny closed her bedroom door, and turned to Samus. “Okay,” she said, breathing out a sigh. “Take a seat, I’ll take care of everything.”

“Penny, you really don’t have to do this. It’s just a stupid thing,” Samus replied, half-sitting on the bed.

Penny stopped, holding a handful of tissues and a cup of water, in the threshold of her bathroom. “Does it matter to you?” Samus nodded. “Then it’s not stupid.” She approached the other woman, offering her the water and the tissues. Her face softened. “If it matters to you, it matters to me.”

Samus took a sip of the water, and gently placed it on the bedside table. She noticed that the knuckles of her right hand were a little bruised from where they’d cracked against Adrian’s jaw. She sighed, as the oddly tiring nature of the evening caught up to her.

“Now,” Penny began, as Samus wiped the remaining wetness from her eyes. “If you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen. But first, we’re gonna get you out of that dress, okay? Stand up.” She wasn’t commanding, per se, just very focused on taking one task at a time.  
She gently pulled Samus up from her semi-seated position on the bed, and Samus turned around. She felt Penny methodically gather up her loose hair, and gently move it in front of her shoulder, and then she began to unzip the dress. Once she had adequate space, Samus gently stepped backwards out of the garment, then turned to Penny.

Samus expected to meet her gaze, but instead the other woman was shielding her eyes with one hand. 

Oh, right. There hadn’t been a bra underneath her dress, so from the waist up, Samus was completely naked.

Penny awkwardly extended her other arm out in Samus’ general direction, indicating that she hang the dress on the outstretched appendage. When she carefully did so, Penny quickly turned and walked into her closet, searching for a spare hanger. 

“There are some shirts of mine in the top dresser drawer,” she called behind her. “Feel free to borrow one.” Samus nodded, then realized that Penny couldn’t see her. Shaking her head, she walked over to the dresser. Rooting around as briefly as she could, she found a black, sleeveless top made from a soft material. Penny or Quinn would probably know exactly which. 

She pulled it over her head, and then awkwardly shook her long hair out of the garment. She’d have tied it up by now, but Quinn had forbidden her from wearing a hair tie on her wrist. It ruined the look, they’d said. Samus looked down at the borrowed shirt and noticed that it left more than a little of her stomach exposed, but she figured that’s what she got for borrowing clothing from someone eight inches shorter than her. She kicked her shoes off and sat on Penny’s bed. After a minute, she hugged her knees to her chest, just overwhelmed by it all. At least the sheer white tights she was wearing somewhat reminded her of her Zero Suit.

“Hey,” Penny said, gently shaking her shoulder. Samus looked up to see that the princess had also changed out of her dress, and into a simple nightgown. “Scoot over, will ya?”

Samus chuckled, and slowly let go of her knees, moving to the center of the bed. Penny sat next to her, their shoulders just barely touching. Samus was hyper-aware of the contact, not daring to adjust her posture for fear of losing the skin-to-skin connection.

Penny did so herself, though, leaning down to get something from her bedside table. She returned with what looked like another tissue. Samus raised an eyebrow, as her tears were dry at this point.  
“Please tell me you’ve seen a makeup wipe before,” Penny joked. Samus shook her head, and Penny sighed.

“Well, when you have a bunch of stuff painted on your face for the sake of looking more beautiful in order to fulfill an unrealistic societal expectation, you use these to take it off at the end of the night. It’s bad for your skin if you sleep in it.” Samus examined the wipe for a moment, and just presented her face to Penny. 

“You can do it, it’s not rocket science,” Penny said, offering the wipe.

“I didn’t know how to put it on, I definitely won’t know how to take it off,” Samus replied. Quinn had introduced her to a man whose name she didn’t remember, and he had done Samus’ makeup in the first place. She didn’t see the purpose of it, but they insisted, and Samus had already learned not to argue with Quinn when it came to appearances.

Penny chuckled and positioned herself in front of Samus. She cupped Samus’ cheek in one hand, and it was all Samus could do to not press into her touch like a needy cat. She hadn’t needed holding like this since she was a little girl, and she cursed herself for her weakness.

“Close your eyes,” Penny said gently, and Samus obeyed. In a few wipes, the makeup was gone, and Samus rubbed her eyes. Penny got up and tossed the wipe, and plopped down on the bed next to Samus. 

 

* * *

 

Penny allowed herself to really take in Samus’ appearance for a moment. That is, her appearance above the shoulders. Penny had already stolen a glance at the bounty hunter’s ridiculously toned abs, and her heart had skipped a beat or three at that mere sight. But this moment wasn’t about that, and Penny respected Samus far too much to use it for anything else. 

Samus’ eyes were still red, and a little puffy. Her hair was mostly splayed about, half-covering her left eye. The fight had ruined most of the careful brushing that her stylist must have done, and while Samus’ hair wasn’t as curly as Penny’s, it seemed to have a similar indignance to remaining styled. She pushed it out of her eyes, but it almost immediately returned there, and Samus made a small, frustrated sound. Suddenly, Penny knew exactly what to do.

 

“Here,” Penny said. “I’m ready to talk if you are, but while I do, let me braid your hair?”

Samus had a blank look on her face. _Of course,_ Penny thought. _She walks around with all that hair, but only ever makes ponytails…_

“Let me guess. The Chozo didn’t braid hair.”

“They had mostly claw-like appendages, so, uh, no,” she replied sheepishly.  
“Scoot forward, I’m about to change your life,” Penny said. Samus obeyed, and Penny delicately pulled her hair back. She reached into the bedside table and rooted around for some hair ties and a brush.

“The last time somebody put in this much effort to take care of me, it was during an emergency surgery,” Samus said.

“Well, part of the reason I brought you here was to show you that it shouldn’t take emergency surgery for someone else to care for you,” Penny replied. 

“Mm,” Samus hummed.

“Okay,” Penny said. “So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?”

 

* * *

 

Samus sighed. Well, it wasn’t as though Penny didn’t already know more about her than any other human ever had.

“As I’ve told you, I was born on a mining colony named K-2L,” Samus replied. “And Ridley killed my parents when I was very young.”

“I remember,” Penny said gently, brushing her hair. The feeling of the other woman’s sensitive, gentle touch made Samus’ chest feel warm.

“So, the Chozo found me, and took me back to Zebes. A computer called Mother Brain told them that I was almost certainly going to die if they kept me there, because Zebes’ environment was way too harsh for a human, especially... “ she sighed.

Well, there was no going back now.

“... especially for a little boy.”

 

Samus felt Penny freeze behind her, but she couldn’t stop talking once she had started. “The Chozo didn’t know much about human culture, but they were brilliant biologists. Old Bird, the Chozo who took me in, told me that they were going to have to alter my DNA so that I would survive. Or, well, he said it in a way that a three-year-old could understand.”

“A few years passed, and while I grew up on Zebes, I tried to remember what I could of my parents. And I realized at one point that, well… the way things were currently headed, y’know, biologically... I was going to end up looking less like my mom and more like my dad.” Penny had slowly begun to move again, and Samus sighed quietly in relief.

“Old Bird and most of the Chozo just always called me ‘Hatchling,’ but when they spoke in the third person, I was still a ‘he'. And… and I didn’t wanna be.” Tears returned to her eyes, but she pressed on.

“So, one night, I snuck out of bed and went to go see Mother Brain. And I asked her what made some humans boys and others girls.” Penny gave the slightest laugh behind her, and Samus smiled.

“One somewhat complex biology lesson later, I asked her… if it was permanent. Being a boy, or if it could be… changed. I guess the logical leap that I made, even at that age, was ‘well, if they could alter my body to survive on Zebes, they could alter it in other ways as well.’ At that point, Old Bird found me, and… and we talked about it.”

She took a breath, steadying herself. Penny slowly put down her brush, and began to divide her hair into three sections. Her touch was the only thing keeping Samus talking at this point. “It took some doing, and around eight years in total, but, well, here I am. A girl.”

She took another shaky breath. “But, if it uh, isn’t obvious now, I wasn’t born that way. And, once I officially left Zebes, and met other humans, especially other women… well. I never really fit in. Almost every person I spoke to from inside the Power Suit thought I was a man, because of my height and my voice. There was some unspoken knowledge between all the other women, too, something that I never learned. I never spent long in locker rooms, never let anybody get too close, because, well… I was afraid they’d know.”

“And I guess, that’s why what he said hurt me so much. Because he’d finally said it out loud, what everybody wasn’t saying. That I was weird, that I didn’t belong, that I was… a freak.”

 

* * *

 

Penny had let Samus tell her story without interrupting because she knew that forcing extra explanation would make it harder. But at _that_ sentence, she immediately stopped. She let Samus’ hair fall from her hands halfway through the braid and seized the other woman in the tightest hug she could muster.

Samus let out a small sob at Penny’s embrace. Penny felt a hot tear land on her wrist. She squeezed the other woman tighter, then let go and spun her around. 

“Look at me, Samus Aran,” she said. Samus met her eyes. They were still wet, but now they held more fear than sadness, and that nearly made Penny’s heart shatter. As evenly as she could, she began.

“You are not a freak.” She said. “You are not an outcast, you are not a liar, and you are not in any way false or abnormal.” She smiled to herself. “I mean, the Chozo DNA thing is a little unusual, I guess, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Samus let out a small laugh, and Penny’s heart soared. She took Samus’ hands in her own.

“And neither is being transgender.” Samus was puzzled for a moment.

“Right,” Penny said. “They knew the biology, not the culture.”

“Here,” Penny continued. “Let _me_ tell _you_ a story. It’s not exactly mine to tell, but I’m sure my papa will forgive me, especially given the circumstances.” Samus remained puzzled, as if she was struggling to see the connection. Penny gave her another big hug, and the bounty hunter tentatively returned it.

“Trust me, it’s related.” She said. “But who you are is wonderful and valid and it doesn’t change a single thing about how I feel about you, okay?” Finally, the tension in Samus body relaxed, and Penny kicked herself for not being that clear immediately. “But first, turn back around, I have to start over with the braid.” Samus laughed a little, and did so. Penny began to brush out her hair again, and started the tale.  
  
“I was born around twenty-five years ago, in this very castle.” Penny said. “If you head out of this room and take the south staircase, it’s just one floor up, second door on the right.” Samus laughed again, and more relief crashed over Penny. It seemed like she was slowly understanding that everything was okay.

“So, I grew up around here, and then when I was around ten, my dad, King Daniel, he sat me down, and I’ll never forget what he said. ‘Hey, Pen-pen,’ he said, ‘your mom and I have been talking, and there’s something we need to tell you.’” Samus wasn’t facing her, but she could feel the other woman’s surprise just in her posture. “That day, my ‘mom’ told me that she had realized that she wasn’t a woman, or at least didn’t want to be. They held hands, and my dad said that I was gonna have two dads, from now on.”

“What did you say?” Samus asked, nearly breathless. Penny laughed.

“I was ten. I said, ‘Okay, Dad. Can Dad and I go play outside now?’” Samus laughed out loud, and Penny figured it was just as much from relief as it was from genuine enjoyment of the joke.

“Of course, I meant the _other_ dad, and that was a little confusing at first, but then we figured out the whole ‘Dad’ and ‘Papa’ thing, and from there, we were pretty much set.”

“So… your dad, King Daniel, he didn’t mind?” Samus asked. Her voice was so small.

“He’s always been attracted to people of all genders,” Penny replied. “When Papa came out, Dad’s only reaction was that he could keep all of his hair care products, because Papa cut his short almost right away.” Samus laughed again, mostly from disbelief.

Penny finished the braid, tying it off at the end. Samus turned once she saw Penny was done, and met her gaze.

Samus crashed into her, wrapping her in a tight hug. Penny gently rested her chin on the crown of Samus’ head. “So yeah, my papa used to think he was my mom. How else did you think they were both my biological parents?” Samus shook her head, still buried in Penny’s chest. Apparently she hadn’t considered it.

“I wanted to tell you that story because I wanted you to know that you aren’t alone. I’m so, so sorry that you ever felt that way in the first place.”

 

“That word you used,” Samus said. “Transgender…” Penny nodded.

“It’s sort of an umbrella term for people who grew up being told they were one gender, and then realized they’re another one,” Penny said. “It’s not too big a deal these days. You can tell other people if you want, but it’s really your business. I won’t say it to anybody if you don’t want me to.”

“Even your papa?” Samus asked.

“Even my papa,” Penny replied, smiling. “I’m sure he would be proud of you and wouldn’t treat you any differently, but I also understand if you just wanna put the whole thing behind you.”

 

Samus appeared to consider that. “Would you let me think about it?” 

“Of course!” Penny said immediately. “As long as you need.”

They shared that moment together, and Penny reached over to the bedside table to grab another set of tissues for Samus. The bounty hunter took them, and wiped her eyes again.

“I hope these tears are happy ones,” Penny offered. Samus nodded.

 

Before anything else could be said, there was a knock at the door. Penny gestured for Samus to stay there, then got up and opened the door a crack, making sure that whoever had knocked wouldn’t be able to see Samus.

A young man, a guard, was looking back at Penny. “The, er… the king wants to speak to you, ma’am.” He said. He must be new, because he hadn’t specified which king. Stars above, he was younger than _her._ Her dad had told her that they’d had to hire some new faces after her kidnapping, but still. “He says it’s, uh… it’s urgent.”

“Well, you can tell both of my fathers that I would prefer for them to come here,” Penny replied. “I am confident that my own news is more urgent.”

“Ma’am, the… the king was quite insistent…” the young man replied. 

“As am I,” Penny countered, without missing a beat. She didn’t mean to press him, but there was no way she was leaving Samus alone after everything that had happened tonight. The guard made a small “o” shape with his mouth, and then nodded slightly. He turned to go, and Penny curtly shut the door.

 

* * *

 

Samus watched Penny walk back to the bed, and she sat down on the covers once more.

“So, how do you like the braid?” Penny asked. Samus had nearly forgotten. She reached back to position it in front of her shoulder, running her fingers down it. 

“I like it,” Samus replied. “Keeps everything out of my face, at least.” 

“Mm,” Penny replied. “Come here. You’ve been through a lot.” Samus quietly curled up in Penny’s lap, and let the other woman’s hands gently stroke her shoulder. “My dads are gonna be here in a few minutes, I figure,” she said, making no effort to further prepare for that event. “When they do, I’m gonna talk about what happened with Blackburn. Don’t feel like you have to speak up unless you want to, okay? I don’t wanna make you relive any of it.” Samus nodded in her lap, and let Penny’s soft hands lightly hold her close.

 

* * *

 

“Penelope?” Came her papa’s voice at the door. “Are you in here?” He sounded maybe a little irritated at being summoned, but Penny figured that that was fair.

“It’s open,” she called out. Samus started to move her head up, but Penny gently pushed her back down, and whispered, “It’s okay, you don’t have to.” Samus sighed and her breathing slowed once more as she returned to Penny’s lap.

 

King Jacob opened the door somewhat swiftly, but not quite with anger. He did, however, immediately raise an eyebrow when he saw Penny in her nightgown, comforting the blond woman who was half-asleep in her lap. He closed the door behind him with slow purpose, seeming to consider the reasoning behind her actions before immediately leaping to conclusions.

“Hey.” Penny stated. “Did you come here to ask about Adrian Blackburn?” Her father’s face briefly became animated with surprise before it settled into a more neutral expression. He gently slid a chair across the floor and sat before the bed, still dressed in the evening’s finery. 

“Did she really punch him in the face?” King Jacob asked. His question wasn’t accusatory, just simply searching for the truth. 

“He… he _grabbed_ both of us,” Penny said. “I took Sam out to the balcony, to show her the stars. He must have followed us there from the party. He pushed himself in-between us, and started saying some bullshit about how much it was a pretty night. He… _suggested_ that we find a room somewhere, and when we refused, he grabbed both of us around the waist.”

“And what did Samantha do?” Her father asked. His voice was calm, but his eyes were filled with a quiet rage that Penny had seen only a few times before. Samus took a shaky breath in her arms, but Penny just held her firm, reassuringly.

“She… she shoved me out of his grip. She hit him in the chest, broke his nose with her knee, and punched him in the jaw.” Penny’s statements were matter-of-fact.

“I see.” King Daniel replied. “Is Samantha okay?”

“Mostly, now. Yes,” Samus spoke up from Penny’s lap. After everything, her voice was still very nervous and small. King Jacob nodded to himself, in relief.

“Are _you_ okay?” He asked, meeting Penny’s gaze.

“Thanks to her.” Penny said. Her father nodded in relief. With that out of the way, his countenance darkened. He looked down at the floor, one long curl in the middle of his face falling between his eyes. Apparently his hairspray had lost its grip, but he didn’t appear to mind.

 

“He will not return to our home ever again.” Her papa said quietly. His even tone contained quite a bit of rage. “If he ever darkens our door, your father and I will do everything in our power to make it the worst, if not last, decision he ever makes.” He met her eyes once more. “However, there is the matter of his parents.” Penny raised an eyebrow.

“They’ll oppose his banishment from the castle, of course.” He sighed. “They’re good people, and we both know that. But they’ve always had a soft spot for that idiot, and while they’ll know he fucked up badly this time, they always think he can still prove himself.”

“Do you really want to give him the chance, after what he pulled?” Penny asked, furious. “Papa, if Sam hadn’t-”

“I know,” her father said, his hands clenching into fists. “I know, Penny. What I’m saying is that this might cause some… tension, between us and the Council.”

“What would you have me do? Apologize? To that worthless piece of shi-”

“You know I would never ask that,” Her father said. “Your dad is still at the party right now, trying to calm the Grand Arbiter down while I went here to talk to you. The reason we called you is because we wanted to hear what you had to say, hoping that he’d see your side.”

“Oh, I will _happily_ tell that bastard off to his face again if you need me to,” Penny said, her anger rising in her like a storm. 

“Well, I’m afraid he’s already thrown a tantrum and left,” her papa said bitterly. “And I never liked that boy anyways. But I think it’ll be best if your dad and I talk to the Arbiter on this one. He’s just trying to protect his kid, but I think he’ll get it once he sees that your dad and I are doing the same.” Penny reluctantly nodded. She wouldn’t mind the chance to get angry, but Samus was by far her primary concern, and she had been keeping a protective hold on the other woman’s body through the whole conversation.

“Is she still awake?” He asked Penny, gesturing to Samus.

“Yes, sir!” She said, immediately popping up from Penny’s lap and sitting at attention. “I’m sorry, Penny said I should try to rela-”

“It’s quite all right, Samantha,” King Jacob said. “You’ve both clearly been through a lot. I apparently owe my daughter’s safety to you twice over, now, so you once again have my thanks.” Samus merely nodded, a little numb. Penny could tell she wasn’t sure how to respond to the king’s anger, even though it wasn’t directed at her.

“I’m going to head upstairs, now,” he said after a moment. “And I’m going to try very hard not to lift Rupert up by his lapels and shove him against the wall for what he almost let happen to my daughter.” He met Samus’ eyes. “And to my ward.” Samus managed a tiny smile, and Penny hugged her reassuringly.

“I assume you two are sharing this room tonight?” He asked.

“I’d rather not be alone,” Penny said. It was true, but for perhaps more reasons than she would tell him to his face.

“I’ll arrange a guard posting,” her papa said. “I’m very glad to hear that you both are all right, and I apologize if you hear any shouting.” He turned to leave, and Penny got up to follow him.

“Be careful, Papa,” she said, leaning out of the door. “He said some really horrible things about Sam, and he… well, he seemed to imply he would be back.” Her father’s countenance darkened considerably, but he seemed to slightly brush that aspect aside.

“Your father and I will make absolutely certain that he won’t be,” he said. He briefly wrapped her in a hug, and gently kissed her forehead. “Thank you for being so brave.”

“Well, I did already get kidnapped,” she breezed. They laughed, and then her father leaned in, as if he were telling her a secret.

“She’s calling you ‘Penny,’ now, is she?” He asked.

“She is,” Penny replied with a grin. 

“I see.” He said. He made a face of mock disapproval, but the smile in his eyes almost immediately gave him away. “That could get complicated, you know. A princess and a ward of the crown...” Penny crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

“Have you ever known me to be someone who prefers simple things?” She asked. Her father chuckled gently. 

“Perhaps not. Love you, sweet pea.”

“Love you too, Papa. Try real hard not to kill anyone.”

“No guarantees,” he said. He straightened his jacket by the lapels and headed down the hallway with a walk that conveyed a calm, horrible fury. Penny sighed for a moment before closing the door and returning to Samus. 

 

* * *

 

“So… what happens now?” Samus said. “With Blackburn?”

The princess turned to face her, and sighed again. “I’m not exactly sure,” she replied honestly. “I’d love to think that his parents will be just as angry as mine, but I doubt it. Arbiter Blackburn and my dad go back quite a ways. They’ve always been close friends, but there are still some things that they could never agree on.” She sat down on the bed next to Samus, both of them quietly staring at the door.

“Do you think he’ll try something?” She asked. Her fists clenched at the thought.

“Adrian himself?” Penny asked, laughing. “I doubt it. Surprised or not, you knocked him on his ass in three hits, all while wearing a _ball gown._ No, I think he knows he’s got no chance.”

She thought for a moment. “But, politically? It’s hard to say. The Blackburns can’t exactly describe the incident in any detail without painting themselves in a _very_ poor light. But the relationship between the crown and the council may be… a little less friendly than it has been in several years.” 

Samus’ eyes glazed over at that thought. Her in-the-moment actions had had serious consequences over the government of a world. She was used to creating large effects on a planet - ridding it of Space Pirates, destroying it, eradicating a disease that may have threatened it. But her actions had never had such a subtle, hidden influence on things, and the unintended nature of that influence troubled her. 

“Hey,” Penny said, placing her hand on Samus’ shoulder. “You were just trying to protect me.” She smiled. “I can take the warrior out of the armor, but I can never take the armor out of the warrior.”

“Sorry,” Samus said. “I know how hard you’ve been trying to get me to relax…”

“No, no,” Penny reassured. “Not only was your… assistance quite necessary, it was honestly very sweet. You’re still trying to protect me, even when I put you in a ball gown and drag you around the main hall, introducing you to politicians for an hour.”

Samus smiled. “Yeah,” she said, sheepishly putting a hand behind her head. “You’re… uh… you’re welcome, I guess.” Penny had a look about her that Samus couldn’t quite figure out. She had a big grin on her face whose motivation Samus couldn’t imagine, and her eyes were filled with delight, admiration, but there was something else. Something she couldn’t place.

 

“You still look gorgeous, by the way,” Penny said. “Even without the dress, and the makeup, and everything else.”

“I… you… you really think so?” Samus asked, vulnerable. She had opened up to Penny about her greatest insecurities, and was baffled that the princess could see her in any way other than a sum of those insecurities.

Penny shook her head - not disapprovingly, not in disagreement. It was as if Samus had told her a bad pun that she still found a little funny. She sighed and looked behind them, at the starlight filtering through the window. Samus turned to look that way as well, looking for what Penny saw. After a moment, Penny’s hand covered her own. She turned to Penny again, and the princess’ eyes were once again gazing into her own, still with that look that she couldn’t place.

“I know so,” she said. It was almost like Penny was expecting something, and Samus was frustrated with not knowing what. She searched Penny’s expression, desperately looking for an answer. The princess finally made an exasperated sound, and rolled her eyes.

 

“Stars above. Just come here, you beautiful idiot,” Penny said. All at once, her soft hands were gently cradling Samus’ face, and their lips met in a sweet and tender kiss.

 

* * *

 

Penny pulled away from Samus after a moment, slowly opening her eyes, a wide grin on her lips. She looked at the other woman, nervously gauging her reaction. Samus’ face was mostly blank, though she was wide-eyed with surprise. Penny immediately felt her whole face burn hot with shame.

“I’m so sorry!” Penny blurted. “I… I thought that you - er, that is… I -”

Her further ramblings were silenced by Samus’ finger on her lips. The other woman’s surprise was gone, replaced with a molten look and a coy smile. Samus’ finger delicately brushed along her lips before her hand gently cupped Penny’s cheek. Samus’ hands were surprisingly soft, and very delicate. Her other hand also moved up to hold the princess’ face, mirroring how their first kiss had began.

Her lips pressed against Penny’s once more. The kiss was deeper this time, and Penny’s arms wrapped against Samus’ waist, pulling herself closer in her need. Samus’ hands moved down from her face, gently travelling down her sides. Penny let out a shuddering breath, and then made a small, delighted “eep!” sound when Samus grabbed her hips and deftly lifted Penny up into her lap, without breaking the kiss. Penny had figured that Samus would be inexperienced, but based on _that_ little move, that likely wasn’t the case. Apparently Samus had some stories to tell her later, but for now, Penny wasn’t complaining. 

Penny broke off the kiss, her eyes shining with joy. The woman across from her, still holding her hips, had an identical smile. Penny delicately let her arms rest on Samus’ shoulders, her wrists daintily crossed behind the other woman’s head. 

“So… would you really like to be mine, then, Samus Aran?” She asked softly. 

Samus leaned back, letting Penny gently slide out of her lap. She smiled sweetly and turned away, looking out the window. Penny sidled up next to her. She rested her head on Samus’ shoulder, just as she had only a few hours earlier that evening. Samus let her cheek rest on the crown of Penny’s head as well. The pair sighed with content, sharing a moonbeam that lazily filtered in through the window.

“You haven’t answered my question, Sam,” Penny teased. She already knew the answer, but wanted to hear Samus say it out loud. 

Samus gently slipped out from Penny’s embrace, and turned to face her once more. She just seemed to lovingly stare at Penny for a moment, examining her under the light of the Chora’s many moons. 

“Your Ladyship, Princess Penelope Rosaline Stargazer,” Samus began, and Penny was already giggling at the use of her full title. She put a hand over her chest, as if she were giving an oath. “It would be my honor and privilege to be yours, for as long as you will have me.” Penny’s grin widened even further, and she gave Samus a playful shove on the shoulder.

“Dork,” she said. 

“Your dork, now,” Samus countered, and they both laughed. Penny took one of Samus’ hands in both of her own, and pulled the other woman down to lie next to her, still on top of the covers. They’d essentially ruined the delicate arrangement of the pillows by this point, and the covers were far from smooth. She pulled Samus over until they were both lying in the moonbeam again, staring out into space. Samus’ long braid curled around above them, and Penny’s hair delicately grazed Samus’ bare arms.

 

Penny gazed at Samus’ face, wrapped up in the moon’s kiss. The scene was more beautiful than any poem, any song, any oil painting that she had ever seen. And based on the way that the other woman was looking back, her feelings were quite similar.

“Ready for bed?” She asked.

“Almost.” Samus said. “A few more minutes?” Penny smiled.

 

“As long as you like.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This chapter was a bit longer than usual, there were a few things I wanted to cover and I wanted to give each of them the full coverage that they really deserved, so that's why this chapter took a while.  
> Also it's finals week, but why study when you can write about space lesbians.
> 
> But, just for the sake of being painstakingly clear, King Jacob Stargazer is a gay transgender man, and he gave birth to Penny, and transitioned ten years later. King Daniel Stargazer is a cisgender, pansexual man. Finally, Samus is a transgender woman, and the Chozo helped her medically transition, which they had the technology to do because they were a race of super genius bird aliens. Also Quinn is nonbinary if that wasn't obvious, and their assigned gender at birth is none of your business.  
> If you're wondering where this headcanon came from, my answer is essentially "the actual canon of the series:" in the 1994 game, Samus was given he/him pronouns in the game's manual to keep the reveal of her true gender at the end of the game "a surprise." Additionally, she was initially conceived of as a man during development, and only later did the designers decide to make her a woman - inspired by the character Ripley, from the movie Alien. Lastly and perhaps most convincingly, one of the game's designers literally said so in a 1994 interview, and while the language he used to say it was somewhat Problematic(tm) especially in our modern context, it's still being translated from Japanese and wasn't *really* considered offensive in the context of its own language and time period. 
> 
> So yeah, Samus is trans. Die mad about it, cis gamer boys. 
> 
> final note: the author, aka me, is also a trans woman, so plz trust me to handle her narrative with respect and grace mmkay thanks
> 
> -Red


	10. Simple Complications

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another slight trigger warning for this chapter, just like Chapter 8. It's near the end again, and doesn't concern something that actually happened - merely something that theoretically could have. Still, please be warned.
> 
> -Red

Samus pulled herself up onto the dock, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She delicately balanced on her left hand for a moment, pushing her bangs out of her eyes with her right. She then pulled herself the rest of the way out of the water, and walked over to retrieve the towels she’d left hanging on one of the wooden dock’s support pillars. She used one to dry her body and wrapped it around herself, then used the other to get her hair dry enough that it wasn’t actively dripping. She took a brief look at her reflection in the water, and then made her way back to the castle.

 

“Oh, hey, Sam!” Penny said, looking up from her book. “How was your swim?”

“Good,” Samus replied, shifting her grip on the towel. “I’m gonna change and then I’ll be ready.”

“You’re  _sure_ you’re up to a dance lesson after an hour of swimming laps?” Penny asked, suspicious. Samus looked around for a moment, but no guards were present.

“Chozo DNA, remember?” She said. Penny raised a concerned eyebrow, but she seemed to think that was fair.

Samus turned the corner to the hallway with their rooms. The uniformed man standing between them nodded at her, saying “Ma’am,” at her approach. She gave him an awkward smile, still not used to other people protecting her. It was usually the other way around, but Penny’s fathers still didn’t quite know that. 

Once she closed the door to her own room, Samus relaxed a moment. She moved to the bathroom and hung her towels over the shower curtain, then stripped out of her athletic bathing suit and moved to the dresser for a change of clothes. 

 

Now changed (and after quite a while with the hairdryer), Samus leaned against the door to her room for a moment, still a little dumbstruck that it was all _hers_. She’d been on Chora for about a week, but hadn’t yet gotten quite used to everything. It was still odd to see so many other people just sort of around, going about their business. It was still odd to, well… to _relax_. She paused a moment, recalling the first time she had seen her new room. 

 

* * *

 

Samus looked around the guest bedroom in utter bewilderment. This space on its own was approximately the size of all three major chambers of her ship, combined.

She stood in the room’s doorway, its height so generous that even she didn’t have to stoop. There was a medium-sized circular table made of rich oak wood off to the left. Two beautifully upholstered chairs, cut from the same material (perhaps even the same tree) took up the rest of its corner. Farther along the left wall, there was a generously large oak dresser, with six wide drawers. On the right wall, a semicircular love seat took up the far corner, and a large media screen took up most of the wall itself. To her immediate right was a door that led to the bathroom, and there was a walk-in closet off to the left, past the dresser.

The main feature by _far,_ however, was the large canopy bed directly across from her. It was significantly larger than the one on her ship. It had a beautiful white duvet. Red curtains surrounded the bed, tied to the posts with elegant, bright yellow ropes. Samus counted at least eight pillows in total, and she couldn’t imagine what they all were for. The bed was framed by two picture windows, each around half the size of her ship’s cockpit window, which dominated the remainder of the far wall. A small but functional nightstand sat on each side. 

The chamber was lit by a small circular chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling. It appeared to have real candles adorning it, but upon closer inspection, they were modern light sources designed to resemble their ancient counterparts. 

 

“So, what do you think?” Penny asked from behind her. 

“It’s… huge,” Samus said. She turned to face the princess.

“Well it’s yours, so you’d better get used to it,” Penny replied, smiling. Samus turned to look at the room again, still in awe.

“I mean… how could anybody possibly use all of this space?”  
“Oh, trust me, it’ll fill up before you know it,” Penny replied. “Once you get some new clothes, that closet will suddenly become very small.” She walked up next to Samus, gently leaning against her. Samus’ head whipped over to look at her for a moment, but Penny didn’t meet her gaze, looking forward instead. “It really is yours, you know. Do whatever you want with it. Move the furniture around, bring some stuff in, anything you like.”

“I have absolutely no idea what to do with it,” Samus said. She looked down at Penny again, and was delighted to see that the princess met her gaze this time.

“It’s okay, Sam,” she replied. “You’ll figure it out. I’ll be here to help you.”

Samus nodded. They shared a moment like that, Penny gently leaning into Samus.

“Ready?” Penny asked after a moment. Samus nodded again, and they left together.

 

* * *

 

“Wrong foot,” Penny said, as she once again narrowly avoided stepping on Samus’ toes. 

“Sorry!” her partner replied, immediately embarrassed. She let her arms fall. “I’m still not used to… which foot… mattering.” Penny laughed.

“You’re ambidextrous when it comes to kicking people, huh?” She asked with a smile. Samus immediately smiled back, nervously pushing her hair out of her eyes. Penny gently approached, her arms already in formation to resume. Samus took a moment before she gently put her right hand in Penny’s left. Penny let her right arm rest on the small of Samus’ back, and Samus spent another moment positioning her left hand on Penny’s shoulder.

“Ready?” Penny asked. Her partner nodded, and she moved her left foot forward, instructing, “ _Right_ foot back, yes, now left, and now side-together.” Samus followed, and the pair were now back to how they had started, though slightly forward and to Penny’s left.

“Good!” Penny said, encouraging. “Do you wanna try it with counts?” Samus nodded, a look of determination in her eyes. She was focused with perhaps more intensity than the situation demanded, but Penny found that rather cute.

“Okay, ready? Riiiiight, leeefft…” She began, drawing out each word to emphasize that step’s slow nature, “and quick-quick.” Samus’ feet met each other, perfectly in time. 

“Nice!” Penny approved. “Now, do you wanna try it without looking at your feet?” Samus looked up, embarrassed. “It’s okay!” Penny said. “You’re doing great. Trust me, this took me _way_ longer to learn. Now, riiiiiight, leeefft… eyes on me, gorgeous…” Samus looked back up at Penny, her cheeks a visible pink. She apparently hadn’t realized that her gaze had already drifted back to her feet. Penny just gave her a smile, and maintained eye contact to keep her attention. 

“Let’s go again, ready? Riiiiight, leeefft… quick-quick. Nice! Riiiiiiight, leefft...”

 

* * *

 

Samus did her best to focus on Penny’s sea-green eyes as they danced. Penny was fortunately wearing heels while Samus was in flats, so she didn’t have to look down _too_ far to meet the princess’ gaze. She could still feel the heat in her cheeks from Penny’s offhanded comment, and the flirty smile still on her face wasn’t exactly doing much to make Samus’ blush to go away.

They had only been, well, “together,” in that sense, for five days now. Samus had a fair amount of experience with one-off relationships: the short-lived space station romances, the one-night stands between two lonely soldiers, that sort of thing, but she’d never properly _dated_ like this. As a result, Samus was completely unprepared for the moments where Penny called her “gorgeous” out of nowhere. When Penny winked at her. When Penny played footsie with her under the dinner table. It would almost be frustrating if it weren’t absolutely exhilarating. 

Samus dimly realized that she and Penny were travelling farther and farther away from the center of the room as they danced. By her estimate, they had maybe two more basic steps until her back would hit the wall.

Seeming to know this, Penny caught her eyes again, and winked. “Just hang onto me, okay? Follow my lead.” With that, the princess changed up their movement slightly. Rather than stepping directly forwards, she turned a bit to Samus’ left, altering their orientation. Her arms were surprisingly solid as she steered Samus through the turn. Samus scrambled a bit, adjusting herself to follow, but she quickly caught on. A few more of these adjustments, and they no longer threatened to crash into the wall.

 

“Look at you, Sam, you’re a natural!” Penny beamed, and Samus’ heart fluttered in response to the praise. “We’ll have you in a promenade spin in no time.” Penny’s eyebrows narrowed for a moment. “Although I think I might have to jump to get my arm above your head for the turn…” The pair laughed together, completely losing the rhythm of their dance. Penny found herself off-kilter for a moment, and half accidentally, half purposefully fell into Samus’ arms. 

She gave Samus yet another of her trademark beaming smiles. The bounty hunter couldn’t help but smile back at her companion, and Samus immediately noticed a coy, somewhat hungry look in Penny’s eyes. Without a word, the princess cupped her cheek and pulled her down into a sweet, tender kiss.

“I thought we were taking it slow,” Samus said, not even remotely upset with her.

“We are!” Penny said, mock defensive. “We’ve been sleeping in our own rooms and all that, but I just can’t help myself when you look at me with those beautiful eyes.” She winked.

They were indeed taking things slow, but _that_ cheesy line earned Penny another kiss, which Samus happily provided. When it broke, Penny gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

“Come on,” she said. “Dinner’s on soon, we should get ready.”

 

* * *

 

“So, I heard from Rupert today,” King Daniel said slowly.   
Everyone’s utensils stopped completely, as if someone had hit a theoretical “pause” button on dinner. 

“What did he have to say?” Penny asked, her tone slow and measured.

King Daniel shared a look with his husband - apparently they had discussed this earlier. Samus’ head quickly moved back and forth between the kings to see who would speak first, as if she were watching a tennis match. Each of them sat at one end of the table, with Penny and Samus sitting across from each other in the middle. Since they weren’t using the banquet hall, this table was actually small enough that they were all relatively close. Still, it made the tiny kitchenette table on Samus’ gunship look like it was meant for a group of at most three children.

“Rupert said that Adrian would like to sincerely apologize for his… behavior, at your welcome party.”

Penny snorted, unimpressed. “Well, _that’s_ the understatement of this millennium.”

“I agree,” King Jacob chimed in, “And we still have no interest in allowing him back to the castle.”

“Ever.” Her other father agreed. There was a sense of finality to that statement, but after a beat, he continued. “But… Adrian has requested that he be allowed to send each of you a formal letter of apology. _If_ you find it… satisfactory… “ he trailed off for a moment, implying that neither woman had any obligation to accept it if they did not wish to, “then tensions between the Crown and the Council may be… eased.”

Penny reflected on that for a moment. She had noticed that her Papa’s hair had been messier as of late - a usual tell that he was overworking himself. The Crown’s political powers were limited, she knew. Her fathers didn’t have the ability to introduce legislation, merely approve or disapprove of it. They could informally suggest revisions, but that was a much more difficult thing to do when they were on poor terms with the Grand Arbiter of the Council. Additionally, the Council had authorities over some of her fathers’ executive actions, and she imagined that Arbiter Blackburn had been blocking what he could get away with blocking.

Penny met Samus’ gaze, and found the bounty hunter deep in thought. She was resting her elbows on the table, chin on her hands. Penny also couldn’t help but notice that with that posture, Samus’ incredibly muscular arms were on full display, which distracted her to a not insignificant degree. 

“Would you let us think about it?” Samus asked after a moment. “I mean, I owe you both a lot, so I wanna help however I can, but…”

“We understand.” King Jacob said immediately. He looked to his husband, who nodded profusely. “And for the record, Samantha, you owe us nothing. You’ve saved our daughter - more than once. Our home is yours.”

“Like I said before,” King Daniel said, somewhat softer than his husband. “You need not feel like an intruder here. As far as we are concerned, you are family.”

Samus smiled, a bit awkward, and Penny gave her a reassuring nod when the other woman met her gaze. 

“I… thank you,” Samus said after a moment.

“Of course, dear.” King Jacob replied. He watched Samus’ reaction to the term of endearment - he used several with Penny, but he still carefully gauged his ward’s comfort level. He nodded to himself, ever so slightly, when Samus gave him a smile. “Besides,” he said, his voice much lighter, “you _are_ our legal ward, so you’re family where the law is concerned, too.”

“Does… does that make me and Penny sisters?” Samus asked, concerned. Penny could tell that Samus was worried that that might make their budding romance a bit awkward.

“No, no,” King Daniel said, waving his hand dismissively. “A ward has a sort of special legal status. You’re a child of the Crown in a more abstract sense - related to the concept of our rulership, not to either of us as people,” he said, gesturing to his husband. Samus was confused by that, and she looked to Penny for aid.

“It’s weird,” She reassured, happy to chime in. “But it essentially means that my dads, as individuals, aren’t legally related to you. Neither am I. Instead, you’re more seen as a sort of an adopted child of the throne - no matter who sits on it. So, for example, if Dad and Papa were to abdicate for whatever reason, and my aunt Eliza -”

“- My sister,” King Jacob supplied.

“-were to take their place,” Penny continued, “ _she_ would become your legal guardian in the process.”

“Eliza would _not_ want the throne, though,” King Daniel gossiped. “She and her partner are far too concerned with all of their humanitarian work offworld.”

“Besides, Avery is a commoner,” King Jacob said. “The people of Chora have never been _too_ big on bloodlines, but the daughter of a minor lord and a _commoner_ taking the throne... that likely wouldn’t go over too well.”

“Your father is a minor lord?” Samus asked King Jacob. Penny could tell that she had assumed Jacob to be the one who inherited the throne, not the one who had married into it. She smiled internally. He had that effect on people.

“Oh, yes,” her papa replied. He turned to his husband with a smile. “You had your pick of spouses from all over the planet, and yet you chose me.”

“Please,” King Daniel said, nearly embarrassed. “None of the other eligible suitors could carry a conversation to save their lives.”

“Ah, but is that your _only_ reason?” His husband retorted, a flirtatious twinkle in his eye.

 

Penny leaned over the table and spread her arms out. “Stop!” She cried. “You guys are embarrassing me in front of Sam!” She looked across the table with an expression that begged forgiveness for her fathers’ open flirtation, but the smug smile and merciless look in Samus’ eyes suggested that she would find none.

“Oh, come on, Penny-Pie,” King Daniel said. Penny’s head whipped over to her father, glaring daggers at the use of her baby nickname. Her gaze would have reduced a lesser man to ash, but the king was unfazed, continuing with a taunting smile. “You won’t let your dear old dads reminisce about when they first met?”

“Our anniversary _is_ in three weeks, you know,” King Jacob teased.

Penny stood up. “I’m quite full. How about you, Sam? Wanna head to bed? Like, right now?”

Samus was simply chuckling to herself, shaking her head with a devious look that made Penny very frightened of the knowledge that the other woman now possessed. “I’m about ready to turn in, now that you mention it.” To the kings, she added, “Thank you for dinner, the meal was lovely.”

“Goodnight, you two,” King Jacob said, an “ _I’ve just spectacularly embarrassed my daughter in front of her unofficial girlfriend”_ smile on his face. Cheeks burning, Penny seized Samus’ hand and practically dragged her out of the room.

 

“Don’t,” she said immediately after they left. She threateningly pointed at Samus, so close that her finger nearly inside the other woman’s mouth. 

“Why, I would never _dream_ of it,” Samus began, showing Penny her hands with a smile that was anything but innocent. “Penny-Pie.”

“Ugh!” Penny said, throwing up her hands in disgust. She practically stomped her way back to her bedroom. Samus followed, chuckling all the way.  


 

* * *

 

There was a knock at her door. “Samantha?” A man’s voice called out. She recognized it as King Daniel’s. “Are you in here?” he asked.

Samus opened the door as an answer. She wasn’t yet dressed for bed, and her hair was still tied up in her iconic ponytail. “Er, hi,” Samus said awkwardly. She still wasn’t quite used to speaking to Penny’s fathers without Penny present. They were both wonderful men, but she was still getting over the initial “crush’s dad” awkwardness, plus the fact that she was technically lying to him about who she was.

“What can I, uh, help you with?” She asked, immediately kicking herself in embarrassment at her word choice. To her relief, the king simply laughed it off.

“I wanted to speak a bit more about Adrian Blackburn,” he said. He gestured to the table in Samus’ room. “May I sit?” She nodded, surprised that he had asked _her_ for permission to sit in his own castle. She sat down as well, hoping that his act of respect wasn’t indicative of a difficult conversation.

“As I imagine my daughter has told you,” the king began, “Rupert Blackburn and I go back a very long way. We attended university together, and have stayed fast friends over all these years.”

Samus nodded, unsure of where the conversation was headed. The king sighed.

“However, his son and I had quite a… disagreement, many years ago.” He stopped there for a moment, and Samus patiently waited for him to be ready. The king sighed again, and seemed to gather up his courage.

“You see, Samantha…” He needed another moment, and Samus jumped in, hoping to provide comfort and a brief distraction.

“Just ‘Sam’ is fine, really,” She said. It was a simple thing, but the smile in the king’s eyes was still quite grateful. Samus blinked in surprise. Was she getting good at talking to people?

“Sam.” He stated, then resumed his tale. “When Penelope was very young, a little before my husband told me that he was, well, my husband…” Samus laughed, but let the king continue. “I was… approached, by Adrian Blackburn. He was just over twenty years old, I think. Penny was nine. Blackburn, well…” the king stopped again. Samus was _very_ concerned at this point, wondering what could possibly be so difficult to say.

 

“He asked for Penelope’s hand in marriage.” the king finally said. Samus was instantly _appalled_ , and based on the way that the king held up his hands, it showed on her face. “Not right away,” he said, perhaps repeating what Blackburn had said to him all those years ago. “But… eventually. He apparently wanted to, ‘lay his claim,’ as it were.” She could tell that the king was equally disgusted by that phrase, but that didn’t make it any less infuriating.

Samus realized that her hands had balled up into fists. She briefly tried to relax them, but to no avail, so she moved them under the table.

“That’s… _vile,”_ she said finally, her voice low. It was the same tone she had used to tell that bastard to let go of them, five nights ago. 

“I agree.” King Daniel said. He clearly had more to say, but he let Samus fume for a moment.

And fume she did. She was _well_ aware that the man was disgusting, the way he had tried to just _take_ both of them. Like they were objects that he could just possess. The more she’d thought about that event the more angry she got. He had just _assumed_ that they would go with him - not just that each of them would be interested in him, despite the fact that neither had indicated anything of the sort, but that he could simply take _both_ of them wherever and whenever he wanted. The sheer amount of self-certainty, of _entitlement_ , evidenced by that action - it was frightening and disgusting. But this? Asking Penny’s father (not even the princess herself!) for her hand in marriage when the princess was just _nine years old?_

Closing her eyes for a moment, Samus pulled herself out of her anger. It was cathartic, almost soothing, in a strange way, but Samus knew that the emotion did her no good right now. Once she was thinking clearly again, she trusted herself to speak again.

“Does Penny know?” She asked quietly. “She said that she’d never met him before…”

“No.” King Daniel said. “I hadn’t told my husband until after the welcome party.” Samus raised an eyebrow at that, and the king’s shoulders fell before he explained himself.

“Rupert is… a very dear friend. When I told him what his son had asked me, he was furious. He apologized profusely and swore that Adrian would… learn.” The king sighed again, melancholy. “I believed him, then. So, I chose not to tell my husband, and especially not my daughter. I hoped that I would be protecting them both from it, and I was doing Rupert a favor by allowing his only son a second chance.” Bitterness filled the king’s eyes. “But I was a fool.” 

Samus chose to leave that comment alone and ask about something that she’d been wondering the whole time. “I, er, I have to ask… why are you telling me?” At that, the king turned to her, a sorrowful apology on his face.

“It is unfair of me to ask this,” He said matter-of-factly.

“Ask it anyway,” Samus challenged. King Daniel sighed, appearing to be simultaneously relieved with her permission and angry with her blind forgiveness.

“My husband told me that that night, when Blackburn… tried what he did,” the king began, apparently unwilling to even speak of the action aloud. “My husband told me that it was you who stopped him. Quite handily, in fact.” Samus nodded.

“Adrian Blackburn is a trained combatant,” the king elaborated. “His father sent him off to a rather harsh Federation bootcamp for several years, hoping that they would straighten him out.” Samus nodded again, illuminated. She had never attended such a place - her training from the Chozo had been more than enough for the Federation’s ranks, but she had heard that these “bootcamps” could be quite difficult, and rather cruel.

“Now, I will not ask that you tell me how you bested him so easily,” the king said. “Perhaps he was caught off-guard, intoxicated, or both. Even still, what you did was impressive, and wherever you learned how to do it is your business, not mine.” Samus nodded her thanks, grateful that she wouldn’t have to invent a lie or give away her true identity.

“All I ask is that… is that you teach my daughter.” He said. Samus’ eyebrows jumped into her hairline, but the king continued. “She’s tougher than she looks. I hired a self-defense instructor for her when she was fourteen. Blackburn’s actions had me a little paranoid, I suppose.”

Well, that certainly explained some of Penny’s resilience. Still, normal self-defense instruction definitely wouldn’t have worked on a giant space dragon like Ridley, and Samus also knew that there was a significant difference between theory and practice, which is likely why Penny had frozen up with Blackburn.

 

“Now,” King Daniel said. “Adrian will still never be allowed back in this castle again. His father understands that. And, I would like to believe that he at least has enough shame to honor that.” He met Samus’ eyes, as serious as the grave. “However, I made that mistake once. I do not wish to make it again. That is why I am asking you this.” Samus nodded.

“I… I understand, sir. I was never really one for teaching, but… I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you, Samantha,” he said solemnly. 

“You’re welcome,” she replied. “And thank you… for trusting me.”

“Dear girl,” the king said. “You are too kind to an old fool.”

 

He gave her a wan smile, and stood up. “Now, please, off to bed with you. I’ve kept you up far too long already.”

“Er, one last thing.” Samus said hurriedly as she stood. “I… I think Penny should know. What Blackburn did.” The king’s shoulders sagged at that, but he nodded, conceding the point.

“Perhaps… perhaps you are right. She is grown now - too grown for her old man to be protecting her.” He gazed past Samus for a moment, staring into the pitch-black night outside her window. 

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he took a step towards her, carefully offering a hug. As Samus met him to accept it, the king said, “Thank you again, Samantha. I hope that I am simply being paranoid, but…”

Samus simply nodded, not obligating him to finish. She had to admit that the hug was quite awkward, as she was significantly taller than the king, but tried not to dwell on that too much. 

The king left, and shut her door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Samus sat on her bed and looked out into the night. She had fought countless terrifying alien creatures in her lifetime, but Adrian Blackburn was shaping up to be the most monstrous of them all. 

After a moment, Samus rolled over and pulled open the top drawer of her nightstand. Sure enough, her gunmetal gray Paralyzer was right where she’d hidden it. She carefully drew out the weapon, her hand instantly fitting into its grip after years of use. She walked over to the door and carefully poked her head out. 

The nearest guard was all the way down the hall, though he did give Samus a quizzical look. With her unarmed hand, she gave him an awkward wave before shutting the door - precisely as an embarrassed lover would do if she were caught, or at least suspected.

The coast now relatively clear, Samus stood in the center of her room, and flicked down the muzzle of her Paralyzer, transforming the weapon. Immediately, a long, whip-like cylinder of orange plasma leapt out. In a practiced move, Samus flicked the whip downwards once, twice, hearing the sizzle of energy as it cracked through the air on each side of her. Satisfied, and careful to not let the weapon singe the carpet, she retracted the whip, holding the pistol up once more for inspection.

She nodded to herself. She wouldn’t let him lay a finger on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought you hated Blackburn BEFORE...
> 
> Also regarding the dance lesson: Penny taught Samus the foxtrot, if you were curious, and I had to venture into cringey 360p YouTube from 2010 in order to properly describe it. I sincerely hope you appreciate the accuracy because BOY were those clips old as dirt.  
> And yes, Penny IS the leader - she knows both parts because she's gay
> 
> oh, also! No one has asked this but this chapter subtly explained why both King Jacob and King Daniel are proper kings - Originally, they were king and queen, but King Jacob essentially always did most of the nation-running stuff. Therefore, when he transitioned, he was given the official title of "King" because he was the main ruler of the land, but King Daniel married when he was already king, and retained the title because one doesn't really get "demoted" in terms of royalty honorifics. However, this is a unique circumstance - generally, a marriage between two men, one of whom is king, would leave them as King and Prince, even in a case of joint rulership. The only other way for them both to have the title of "King" would be for each to be king of his own land, and therefore "King-Regent" of his husband's, but this would be super rare.  
> This has been Gay Royalty, thanks for listening
> 
> -Red


	11. Paradise Left

Penny sipped her coffee. She was wearing her Zero Suit, recently borrowed back from Quinn. Samus walked into the smaller kitchen, wearing her own Zero Suit and carrying her Paralyzer and its holster.  
“Mornin’, Sam,” Penny said. She gestured to the other steaming mug at the table. “Here’s your coffee. Milk and sugar, like how you used to make it.” Samus made a surprised expression, likely impressed by Penny’s memory. The princess merely winked, and sipped her own beverage.

Samus sat, and put her Paralyzer on the table between them. “You’re sure that you’re up to this? The combat training?” She asked.

“I am,” Penny said gravely, pretending that it wasn’t the seventh time she’d been asked after they had already started. She shook her head, briefly recalling what her father had told her about Adrian Blackburn’s past. Realizing that her face probably looked very angry, she closed her eyes for a moment, and smiled up at Samus. “And hey, I think you’re up for it too. I trust you, and you’ve already taught me a lot.”

Samus nodded, seeming to appreciate the sentiment, but still didn’t quite believe it herself. Penny decided to let the subject drop. She gestured to the two sealed envelopes sitting patiently at the edge of the table. “So… ready to read a bunch of lies from a complete fucking asshole?”

 

Samus chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, well, don’t talk me out of it.”

Penny giggled along. “C’mon, we’ll just open the stupid letters and then we can start training.”

“Coffee first,” Samus said, and Penny gave her a halfhearted angry look.

“We’ve been keeping the bastard waiting for a week and a half,” she said. “If we wait any longer I’m afraid he’s gonna crash through the window and demand we accept his apology.”

Samus merely sipped her coffee and shrugged, unapologetic.  
“Fine, fine, coffee first.” Penny conceded. For a while, they just sat together, enjoying each others’ company. Penny looked forward to training more with Samus - she felt mostly familiar with the Paralyzer and Plasma Whip by now, but she knew that there was still much to learn before she got anywhere near the bounty hunter’s skill.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Penny said. “Your Power Suit… how does it, y’know, work?”

“What do you mean?” Samus asked. 

“Like… can you really just summon it? Whenever you want?” Samus nodded. She put her coffee down and closed her eyes. In a flash of light, the Power Suit materialized itself around her, and Penny gasped. She’d seen Samus do it before, but she was still awed by the fluidity of the process. Samus reached up behind her head with her left arm and removed her helmet, gently placing it on the table. 

“Ta-da,” she said flatly. Penny giggled. Samus added, “It’s just sorta part of me. Like another limb.”

“But how does it _work?_ Like… you said the Chozo gave it to you, right? How do you ‘give’ somebody something that’s part of them?”

Samus shrugged. “It was built specifically for me, and I have a psychic link with it. Oh, uh, it’s not just metal. This is actually an organic material.” Penny’s eyes went wide, and Samus just smiled. She leaned forward, gently laying her left arm on the middle of the table, offering it to the princess. “Feel it.”

Tentatively, Penny reached out and covered Samus’ hand with her own. Even through the gloves of her Zero Suit, she could tell that the surface was definitely hard and smooth, but there was a certain texture to it. It almost felt like the hard shell of an animal, rather than a sheet of metal. She wanted to get a better feel for it. 

 

Samus was already leaning over the table, so Penny met her in the middle. Her lips delicately brushed against Samus’, almost teasingly. Samus reached up with her left arm and tenderly cupped the princess’ cheek to deepen it. Penny held her hand against the bounty hunter’s, keeping it there.

The palm of her Power Suit was actually just a tiny bit rough, like a wooden surface that had been spray painted. It wasn’t nearly as cool as the princess had been expecting, either - the other woman’s hand on her cheek felt ever so slightly warmer than the air around them.

Samus broke the kiss with a smile, and Penny could tell that she’d been found out.

“You just wanted to feel the suit, didn’t you?” Samus accused.

“The kiss was wonderful too, darling,” she winked.

“You could have just asked.”

“Mm, I _could_ … but where’s the fun in that?”

* * *

 

Samus shook her head and sipped her coffee. If she was being honest with herself, these little moments with Penny were absolutely thrilling. She’d never thought of herself as one for flirting, and it was a little tough to keep up with Penny - but the true, honest affection from the other woman never failed to make her heart flutter. The princess almost made her feel weak, but in a _good_ way, somehow.

No, “weak” wasn’t quite the proper term. It felt more like she was being… open.

She’d been alone for so many years, perhaps she’d forgotten that the two were any different.

 

“Can I try the helmet on?” Penny asked. 

Samus raised an eyebrow. She was about to point out that Penny would likely look absolutely ridiculous wearing _just_ the helmet, but decided that she would actually very much like to see that. Silently, she gestured to the helmet, and Penny slipped it on over her head. It fit well enough to form an airtight seal with her Zero Suit, but it was still quite a bold fashion statement.

“How do I look?” She asked. Samus looked into the visor of her own helmet, and then watched it list slightly, becoming crooked as it awkwardly sat on Penny’s head.

“Fantastic,” Samus said, stifling a laugh. 

“It’s not very comfy,” she noted. 

“It’s better when you’re wearing the rest of the suit,” Samus supplied. The pair of letters on the table caught her eye. She looked into her coffee mug, and saw that it was empty.

Time, then.

 

“Here, wanna just get this over with?” She said, picking up the letter addressed to her. Penny shrugged and picked up her own. Samus read the admittedly elegant, handwritten script on the front. 

 

_Her Ladyship,_

_Samantha Brooks_

  
It took a bit of skill to open it with only one hand, but she managed. She looked over to Penny, who appeared to be struggling with the seal on hers. It was probably because she still hadn’t taken off Samus’ helmet.

Shaking her head, Samus pulled out the single sheet of paper, and unfolded it. For a moment, she could have sworn that she heard something, almost like a hiss. Her eyes narrowed, and she read the singular word on the page.

 

_Goodnight_

 

Suddenly, her nose detected the smell of something horribly _wrong_ in the air.

Samus’ eyelids fluttered shut, and she slumped forward.

 

* * *

 

 _Thump._ Penny looked up with a start, and Samus was facedown on the table.

“Sam?” She asked. “Sam? Are you okay? SAM?” Her voice quickly rose in voice and pitch when the other woman didn’t respond. Penny shot to her feet, her chair falling to the ground. She grabbed Samus by the shoulders, desperately trying to shake her awake.

“What happened? Sam? Say something, dammit!” 

The bounty hunter gave no reply.

 

Something beeped. Penny’s head whipped around for a moment, looking around for the source, until she realized that she was still wearing Samus’ helmet. She focused on the letter that Samus had opened, and read its brief contents.

The helmet beeped again, and a small text box popped up at the bottom of her vision. 

 

_Subject >> Nakite gas. Extremely potent paralyzing agent. Even brief exposure is enough to incapacitate nearly any being for several hours, regardless of constitution. Potentially fatal in high doses. _

  
  
“Shit.” She said aloud. Hastily, she grabbed both the letter meant for Samus and the one meant for her, but she didn’t know what to do from there. If she moved the letters out, she’d potentially expose others in the castle, but if she left Samus in the kitchen, she’d be continually exposed to the gases.

Penny dropped the letters on the table and grabbed Samus under the armpits, trying to pull her out of her chair. Unfortunately, the bounty hunter was nearly two hundred pounds of sheer muscle, so Penny didn’t quite get very far. Frustrated, she just pulled Samus’ chair out from the table, hoping to scoot it and her out of the room.

 

She’d only gotten halfway to the door, however, when the glass of the large picture window by the far wall shattered. A tall, black-clad figure landed inside the kitchen with a _thud_. They were decked out in full combat gear, notably including a full gas mask. 

Penny exchanged a look with them for a moment, and it immediately became apparent that the figure hadn’t expected Penny to be conscious. 

She dropped Samus and dove for the table. The figure scrambled at their waist, probably searching for a weapon. Penny’s fingers closed around the Paralyzer that Samus had left on the table, and she immediately held down the trigger. The weapon began to hum with energy, and she whipped it towards the attacker, ready to fire.

The figure was closer than she’d thought, nearly on top of her. Instead of aiming the weapon at her attacker, Penny ended up smacking them on the side of the head with it. She let go of the trigger in surprise, and the charged blast of orange plasma flew out over their shoulder. Penny felt a melee weapon - some kind of electrified baton - drive into her stomach. She should have passed out, but the Zero Suit was apparently mostly insulated.

Her attacker didn’t know that, however, and they seemed to think Penny was mostly incapacitated. Penny used that to her advantage, grabbing their gas mask and pulling. She didn’t have a chance of actually removing it, it wrapped all the way around their face, but it did put them in the perfect position for her shin to meet their crotch.

The figure fell to one knee, and Penny pushed her advantage. She flicked down the muzzle of the Paralyzer, just like Samus had shown her. The Plasma Whip spilled out from the weapon, and she cracked it towards the figure’s face. She only grazed their mask, but the message was clear.

 

“You will  _not_ touch her,” Penny declared. 

 

* * *

 

Samus’ eyes slowly creaked open. Her head pounding, she blinked and tried to get her bearings. For one thing, she was still wearing her Power Suit, but her helmet was missing. She didn’t quite feel ready to summon the mental effort to dismiss the suit and its armaments, nor was she certain that she didn’t need them. Slowly, she began to sit up. 

Her vision was still clearing up, so it was Penny’s voice that came to her first.

“Hey, hey, easy…” she said. Samus was dimly aware of someone in front of her - she could feel the body’s presence, displacing the air around her. Additionally, she could ever so slightly feel Penny’s hands on her shoulder and her torso through her suit, carefully helping her sit up, but not too quickly.

“Where… what happened?” She finally croaked. Penny sighed.

“According to your suit? Nakite gas. It’s, uh, a paralyzing agent. You should be mostly recovered in a few hours. I think.” She was going through her drawers - were they in Penny’s room?

 _Blackburn_ , Samus immediately remembered. She pushed herself back up again. If he’d paralyzed her, then-

“Sam! Hey!” Penny rushed to her side to stop her. “You’re recovering _,_ but you’re far from 100% yet. That stuff should have probably killed you based on how long you were exposed to it.”

“I’m persistent like that,” Samus muttered. She was still pushing to stand, but Penny’s hands were surprisingly managing to hold her firm. She made an exasperated sound. “Penny,” she bargained, “it was Blackburn. If he tried to knock us out - knock _me_ out - then he’s coming for you. We can’t just-”

“I know,” Penny interrupted. Her tone was surprisingly calm. “I took care of it, for now. Once you can walk, we’re leaving. I already called back your gunship.” Samus finally realized that Penny wasn’t just going through her drawers - she was _packing._ Preparing for the voyage that she had evidently planned.  
“I can walk,” Samus grunted. Why didn’t her legs work?

 

Penny crossed the room, leaning over by her bedside. The princess tenderly cupped her cheeks. “Sam, I already know how tough you are,” she said. Her voice was so soft, so caring. “In fact, you’re the toughest woman I’ve ever met. I can pack our bags, help you walk to the ship when you’re ready, and then I’ll get us off Chora and into some deeper space.”

“Then what?” Samus asked.

“I dunno!” She said, frustrated. She angrily tossed a shirt into her bag. “We’ve gotta find Blackburn before he finds us. Then, we… we stop him.”

Samus considered that. It certainly didn’t seem like the lunatic was going to give up any time soon. Stars above, he’d nearly killed them both with _Nakite gas_ , an exceedingly rare agent. 

But if he _had_ wanted to kill them, they’d be dead, she realized. Nakite gas could indeed be deadly, but it was primarily used to incapacitate the beings who inhaled it. He’d clearly intended to kidnap Penny - and who had tried that exact thing before?

“You’re right that we can’t stay here,” Samus acknowledged. “But apparently Blackburn isn’t really lacking in the resources department. He’ll find us if we don’t find him first.” Penny stopped packing and met her eyes, her expression hardening with determination. Samus nodded, and continued.  
“I think I know where we can start looking.”

 

* * *

 

“Penelope, are you absolutely certain about this?” King Daniel asked. “We can hire more guards, maybe move you and Samantha somewhere safe here on Chora…”

“We’d just be putting you and others in danger,” Penny replied, packing some of Samus’ favorite clothes. “I don’t want to leave either, but I also want to keep you and Papa safe.”

“Surely there’s political action that we can take to stop him first,” King Jacob said. “With the party it was your word against his, but these letters are _evidence_. We can prove it was him, and put him away for the rest of his life.”

“Perhaps you can, and you absolutely should,” she agreed. “But there’s no way that that lunatic is gonna wait around while you accuse him. I _barely_ avoided breathing in that gas, and the goon I stopped is long gone. He’s probably already told his boss everything - which means he knows about Sam.”

“Knows… _what,_ exactly, about Samantha?” King Daniel asked. Penny froze. 

Oh. Right.

Penny stopped, took a deep breath, and turned to face her fathers.

“So… do you remember when Samus Aran told you that she had a mission from the Federation?” Penny asked. She watched both men raise an eyebrow upon learning that there was a woman under that armor, and at the apparent non sequitur.

  
“We were… ah… lying,” she said plainly.

“What does that bounty hunter have to do with any of this? And why did you say ‘we?’” King Jacob asked slowly. Penny recognized his ‘what did you do’ parental voice and got even more nervous.

“Well, you see, uh, Sam is actually - well, was always, er… that is…”

 

“I’m Samus Aran,” came a voice from behind them. 

 

True to her word, when both men turned around, they looked upon the warrior. Not quite in ‘all her glory,’ Samus leaned against the door frame, her Arm Cannon arm hanging limply from her shoulder. Her helmet’s visor faced the ground, dangling there from her fingertips. She was clearly exhausted. However, a confident grin sat almost smugly on her face, and her stance, though wounded, still managed to convey a sense of strength.  
  
“Sam!” Penny shouted, her fathers forgotten. She crashed into the bounty hunter’s torso, and probably would have knocked the other woman down if she hadn’t also wrapped her into a hug.

“Hey, Princess,” the bounty hunter replied, awkwardly returning the embrace by covering Penny’s back with the deadly weapon that covered her right forearm. 

“You’re supposed to be resting,” Penny accused, not breaking the embrace.

“I’m doing better!” Samus defended. “I walked here myself, didn’t I?”

“Fair enough.” Penny said. “But I’m still not letting you fly the ship until you’re back to a hundred percent.” 

“Fine,” Samus conceded, feigning more disappointment than she really had.

 

Penny turned to her fathers, both of whom were completely bewildered. 

“Right! Ah, Dad, Papa, this is Samus,” she introduced. “Well, I guess you’ve kinda met her already…”

King Jacob recovered first. “So… ‘Samantha Brooks…’” he began.

“... really _was_ me,” Samus finished, timid. “I mean, I lied about my name and all that, but I really _was_ born on a mining colony. I just became a bounty hunter instead of being kidnapped. I may have come here on false pretenses, but I… I was being honest once I got here.”

“It was my idea,” Penny blurted. “I asked her to come here, to spend time here, to meet you guys, to go to a ball, to wear a dress… all of it.”

 

“May we ask… why?” King Daniel finally asked. It was clear that both men were processing a lot at the moment, but they didn’t appear to be angry.

Samus opened her mouth, but Penny was faster.

“To give her a chance at a normal life.” Penny said. “You guys have to understand, she… she was living by herself on that spaceship. She had been, for _years_. After she saved my life, I got to know her a little and she was…” Penny stopped. She looked up at Samus, and she could tell that the bounty hunter could see the love that she felt for her. And based on the way Samus was looking back, that feeling was mutual.

“You were lonely,” Penny murmured, just barely loud enough for everyone to hear. “And I couldn’t let you be that lonely anymore.”

 

* * *

 

 

 _I_ _f your dads weren’t here, I’d give you SUCH a kiss right now,_  Samus thought in Penny’s direction. 

 

She turned to Penny's fathers, who were sharing the type of silent conversation only possible between a married couple of twenty-seven years. They nodded to each other.

 

“Well, we are… surprised,” King Daniel said. 

“But we understand.” His husband added. “And this doesn’t change how much we care about you, Saman- er, Samus.” He chuckled. “I suppose that the most renowned bounty hunter in the galaxy doesn’t really need to be the ward of two dusty old kings, but -”

“I liked it,” Samus blurted. “Being… being that. It was… really nice.”

Penny squeezed her arm and smiled. 

 

“Well,” King Daniel softened. “We aren’t going to take back anything that we’ve already said to you. This place is still your home, for as long as you wish.”

“Just… please take care of our daughter.” King Jacob said. “We already lost her once.”

Samus nodded gravely. “I’ll protect her with my life, sir.”

“Take care of yourself, too,” he replied. “I fully expect to see both of you back here in one piece.”

“We get it, Papa,” Penny said, trying to lighten the mood. “We’ll be back soon. We promise.” Both men nodded, and began to approach them, arms outstretched.

“Hey, she’s still recoveri- _oof,_ ” Penny said as her fathers crushed both of them in a big group hug. 

“Stay safe,” King Daniel said. “And stop that bastard however you can.”

“We will,” Penny assured as the hug ended. She side-eyed the bag she’d packed for Samus. It was full, and she doubted that the warrior was going to wear anything besides the Zero Suit anyways.

She stood up on her tiptoes to peck Samus on the cheek.

“Ready to go?” She asked. Samus met her eyes and nodded.

 

“I’m ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. 
> 
> Sorry this chapter took so long - I ran into writers' block with this fic for the very first time, and it took a lot longer to get over than I would have preferred. Still though, I know where I wanna go from here, so hopefully chapters will be a bit more frequent in the future. I have no plans for this fic to end any time soon, I promise.
> 
> Thank you again for reading, commenting, leaving kudos, and all of that! That stuff really means a huge deal to me. I read every single comment and am always happy to get feedback. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more on the way!
> 
> EDIT: I almost forgot to mention! I've got a ko-fi now!  
> https://ko-fi.com/pixlh3art  
> I set it up for my cosplay Instagram (which, if you hadn't seen before now, I hope you check out) and for AO3! I'm gonna keep writing no matter what, but if you wanna buy me a coffee, now you can!
> 
> -Red


	12. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hey, Red, what the heck? This chapter is only like 1300 words! Also did you like die or something?"
> 
> Hi! No, I am not dead. I got SUPER burnt out on the plot aspects of this fic for a while, and I realized that I can just write silly fluff about Penny and Samus alongside the main plot, so I did that! Check out a little secondary fic, a collection of little fluffy vignettes that take place well after the plot of this fic. I'm gonna try and keep that spoiler-free (especially because even I don't know exactly how this fic will end yet), so don't worry about that! I have one vignette up so far, and it's just over four thousand words. Please check it out! Thank you!
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/20498585
> 
> -Red

“Penelope?”

Penny turned. Quinn stood in the doorway, a lump of fabric in their arms.  
“I heard you were leaving,” they offered. “And I wanted to give you this first.”

“What is it?” Penny asked. Quinn approached, unfolding the garment. 

Penny’s eyes widened - it was another Zero Suit. This one was closer to a navy blue, and its accents were a complementary yellow-gold. Areas around the joints seemed to be made of a slightly coarser material, and were more of a bluish gray as a result. 

“Is it for me, or for her?” Penny asked with a laugh.

“It’s for you,” Quinn said. “Her suit is designed to be worn under military-grade armor. This one is more geared towards being protective in its own right.” Penny’s eyebrows raised a bit. Had they known this whole time? She’d told her fathers to keep Samus’ identity a secret...

Quinn, watching the gears in her head turn, laughed. “Relax, Penelope. I had a feeling that your companion was more than just any mining colonist, but I didn’t fully put it together until the events of today.” They gestured past her, where Samus, still wearing her Power Suit, was watching the horizon for her ship. She leaned against the wall, still a little bit unsteady on her own but refusing to sit down. Penny supposed that seeing her without the helmet made it somewhat obvious. 

Penny smiled gratefully as she took the suit from Quinn. “So it’s kind of like armor?” She asked.

“Theoretically, yes,” they said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not going to protect you nearly as much as that suit does for her.” They gestured to Samus. The bounty hunter turned, and gave a small, slightly nervous wave. “After all,” Quinn joked. “I’m a tailor, not a blacksmith. But it should at least be pretty durable. Laserproof, and hopefully plasma-resistant.”

“Thank you,” Penny said, tears welling up in her eyes. She nearly crushed the tailor in her grip, and could tell that they weren’t exactly thrilled, but put up with it for her sake. Penny released them with a sigh. “I think this might just save my life.”

“Yes, well, it had better.” Quinn said as they regained their composure. They adjusted their glasses, which were crooked from Penny’s hug. “I fully expect to see both of you back here once this whole… business is concluded.” Penny nodded. 

 

“My ship is back,” Samus reported. Penny turned, and sure enough, she could just make out the familiar orange of the Hunter-class gunship as it hovered just above the grass. 

“Farewell to you both, then.” Quinn said. They let a bit of their professional demeanor drop, adding, “Find that bastard and put and end to him.” Penny nodded gravely. She turned to Samus, and they exchanged a look. 

“We will.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay, I think we’ve left the atmosphere,” Penny said. “How was my takeoff?

“Not bad,” Samus said, unbuckling herself from the jump seat. “Your angle was a bit shallow at first, but you corrected it.”

“Noted,” Penny replied. Samus heard her flick on the autopilot, and she hopped out of the cockpit. “How’re your legs?”

“Mostly working now. It’s easier without the Power Suit.” She stumbled ever so slightly, but she caught herself. Penny rushed to her side anyways, supporting her. 

“So…” Penny began. “What do we do now?”

“Lunch,” Samus replied. At Penny’s dubious look, she shrugged. “We both need the energy. We can plan our next move from there.”

 

Five minutes later, Samus took a bite of her sandwich. “So,” she began. “Here’s what we know.”

“Adrian Blackburn is a lunatic and we have to stop him,” Penny said plainly.

“Absolutely - but we can’t do that until we know where he is.” Penny frowned.

“My dad said he talked to Arbiter Blackburn. He didn’t give the full story by any means, just asked after Adrian. The Arbiter said he was offworld, on ‘vacation.’”

“That probably rules out Chora,” Samus mused. “But he clearly has goons there, so we can’t go back until we’ve settled this.” Penny nodded.

“Before we left, my dad said he’d spread a rumor that I’d left the planet, on a little retreat. Hopefully that will keep him and Papa out of it.”

“Let’s back up. So we know Blackburn asked to marry you, sixteen years ago. Then, he tried that whole thing at the party, and then he sent the letters, and the goon.” Penny shuddered, still visibly disturbed by the whole marriage proposal. Samus continued, to get her mind off of it. “We _also_ know that he went to a Federation bootcamp for a few years, and has access to Nakite gas.”

“I’m not exactly feeling reassured at the moment,” Penny said.

“Just stay with me here.” Samus said. “Clearly, the bastard’s obsessed with you. Has been for a long time. He also has a lot of resources, and probably will stoop to anything if it means getting to you.”

“Again, that just makes me feel really gross,” Penny said. She hugged her shoulders, looking at the floor. 

“Hey,” Samus offered, scooting her plate aside. She put her hand on Penny’s shoulder, and the princess met her eyes. “I’m not gonna let him anywhere near you, all right? Once we find him, you can stay on the ship, and-”

“No way.” Penny said, defiance burning in her eyes. “That bastard broke into _my_ home, sent a poisoned letter with _my_ name on it.” She softened for a moment. “He hurt you, too.” She exhaled, her face serious again. “I’ve just as much of a right to take him down as you do.”

Samus smiled internally. She’d figured that Penny would want to fight with her, but she had to be sure. 

“Right, then.” She said. “Together.” Penny’s face lit up, and she gave a determined smile.

“But, as I was saying,” Samus said. “He clearly wants you, and he’ll do whatever he can to take you.”

“You keep saying that,” Penny said.

“Well, _somebody_ must’ve hired the Pirates to kidnap you,” Samus said. “And who else has the desire, resources, lack of morality…”

“Stars above - it was _him,_ wasn’t it?!?” Penny shouted. “He must have hired them!”

Samus nodded, calmer than her companion. “And if he hired them, they probably know where they were supposed to take you. So if we find the Pirates…”

“... they might lead us right to him!” Penny finished. “You’re a genius, Sam!”

Samus chuckled. “Penny, I’m a bounty hunter. Detective work, finding people? It’s _literally_ what I do.”

“I thought that missing person cases were below your pay grade,” Penny joked. Samus shrugged.

“There’s one complication, though.” Samus said. Penny tilted her head in a silent question. 

Samus’ countenance darkened. “He knows who I am.”

“Okay,” Penny said. “So how do you want to play this?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy wow! Thank you so much for 50 kudos!


	13. Collision

“Found them,” Penny said. “Ready?” She turned around in the cockpit chair to face Samus. She stood in the docking ladder’s area, wearing the Power Suit, its helmet in her left hand. 

“Always.” The pair exchanged a nod. For a moment, Penny became a whirl of emotions, so uncertain of the thousand variables in their reckless and foolish plan. But then, she saw the look in Samus’ eyes. The quiet, simple, ceaseless determination. The warrior smiled, donning her helmet.

“See you on the other side.” Penny heard the airlock door close, and she turned back towards the controls, unafraid of what the future might bring.

 

* * *

 

Samus planted her foot on the top of her gunship, staring off into space. Her eyes focused on the target - a large, boxy Space Pirate freighter. She felt the Hunter-class gunship lurch ahead, accelerating towards her destination. She planted her other foot on the outside of the ship, moving into an approximation of a sprinter’s crouch. Samus felt the ship list beneath her, the docking bay for the smaller Pirate ships suddenly entering and then swallowing her view. 

Samus exhaled, and then sprinted towards the end of the ship. In one fluid motion, she leapt off the front, her trajectory clear. As she flew, weightless, now entirely left to the whims of physics, she turned her head just slightly. She was just barely able to see it, the familiar orange gunship, banking out of view. Samus grinned, despite herself.

“See you on the other side.”

 

* * *

 

Penny banked down hard, watching Samus’ suited form sail towards the Pirate ship. Before she could tell whether the warrior made it or not, she felt a laser blast rock her from behind.

“Hello, boys,” Penny said. She pulled the ship into a hard right turn, and let the cannons open fire. A Pirate ship exploded, and the others immediately scattered. Penny grinned. “Shall we dance?”

 

* * *

 

Samus’ metal boots clanged as she sprinted down the hallway. Her last visit to this particular ship had been rather subtle, but she had no such intentions this time around. A Space Pirate turned the corner, and though she didn’t know much about what the creature’s facial expressions meant, it was definitely shocked. A laser blast leapt from her Arm Cannon and the creature was silenced. She kept moving, making her way to the ship’s bridge. 

There was a score she’d been meaning to settle.

 

A horrible, alien scream resounded through the hall. The door opened for Samus with a pleasant, very out-of-place chime. As the blast proof sheets of metal parted, she stepped into the large chamber slowly. 

The gigantic, purple, scaly, pointy creature turned its head, its beady yellow eye just visible over its bony, gangly shoulder. Ridley slowly, almost casually walked in a half-circle, facing Samus. The doors merrily slid shut behind her. Ridley stretched upwards in a horrible series of snapping and popping noises, like as if he were cracking his neck. Samus put her hand on her right shoulder, moving her arm in a quick circle to loosen the joint.

Then, all at once, they clashed.

 

Ridley’s wings unfurled, the creature flying at her across the ground from just one powerful leap. Samus charged back, and then dove into her Morph Ball. She dropped a small bomb on the ground as she rolled, passing just under the giant creature. He flapped his wings once in response, gaining just enough height to avoid the blast. Samus stood and turned, her opponent charging again.

She fired a missile at him this time, aimed right for his gaping jaws. Ridley turned, his wings folding inwards as he rolled to one side, the missile exploding behind him. He opened once more, reaching for Samus, but she had already leapt over him, putting a few laser shots into his back. Ridley screeched in frustration, digging one massive clawed hand into the ground. Using his claw as an axis, Ridley’s centripetal force flung him back towards Samus, catching her as she landed.

Ridley’s other claw wrapped around her torso, lifting her into the air. His feet skidded across the ground, bringing him to a halt. He opened his mouth to breathe plasma right onto her, but Samus’ Arm Cannon slipped out between his clawed fingers. One shot out of several fired in desperation struck Ridley’s thin neck, briefly choking the creature.

Out of instinct, he dropped her, claws reaching to his throat. She landed and pressed her advantage, sending two more missiles his way. Ridley’s leathery wing shielded his body, deadening the blows. Samus, undeterred, ran towards him still, leaping into the air and unleashing her Plasma Whip. It lashed against the creature’s chest before he whirled, his left foot stuffing the warrior’s momentum while she was midair. Samus hit the ground with a loud _crunch_ , embedded in the spaceship floor.

Ridley landed, the deadly sharp point of his tail just barely visible over his massive, hunched shoulders. With a ferocious grin, he pulled himself into a crouch, his tail speeding towards Samus’ prone form as if it were shot from a cannon. A horrible metallic screech echoed throughout the chamber. Ridley looked down upon his fallen prey, and then his head cocked ever so slightly to the side. 

 

Metal groaned against the solid spike of Ridley’s tail. Samus, on her back, battled against the force of the deadly instrument with both feet like a leg press. She had just barely been able to magnetize a small piece of the floor to her boots, rip it out while still prone, and use it as a shield before Ridley’s otherwise fatal blow struck her in the torso. Samus quickly sat up, firing an Ice Beam from her Arm Cannon to keep it trapped in the large, rectangular sheet.

Ridley screeched again in frustration, and Samus curled up even farther, letting the tail’s deadly point get slightly closer to her torso before she braced her arms against the ground and used all of her muscles to kick the sheet off of herself, leaping to her feet in the process. Ridley took a staggered step backwards, trying to shake his tail free. 

Samus again fired a missile, this one aimed right at Ridley’s face. The creature easily swatted it out of the air with his wing, but he didn’t expect Samus to emerge from the smoke in a flying kick. She used the opening created by Ridley’s parry to kick him square in his elongated jaw. She fell downwards after the blow connected, shooting laser blasts into Ridley’s exposed chest until she landed.

 

Ridley, furious, whirled in a circle, slamming his metal-encased tail into Samus. She flew through the air, crashing face-first into the wall. She would have bounced off if Ridley hadn’t immediately followed and caught her, slamming her against the surface once more before taking flight and dragging her upwards along the wall.

Her suit’s energy rapidly depleting, Samus just barely managed to point her arm backwards and fire a blind Super Missile directly into Ridley’s body. The blast separated them, Ridley crashing into the center of the room. Samus, no longer held aloft by the Space Pirate captain, began to fall. 

Samus turned over in midair, desperately trying to get any control over her trajectory as she fell. Ridley had fallen face-first into the floor, wounded, but his head was slowly lifting up from the ground. Samus tucked herself forward, rotating slightly before emerging in a desperate, downwards kick. Ridley’s mouth opened, perhaps readying another blast of plasma, but Samus fell too fast. Her foot struck the top of his jaw, once again burying the creature’s nose in the destroyed floor. Samus fell backwards, the momentum from her flying strike sending her away from him. She skidded along the ground for a few feet. Energy almost entirely depleted, Samus slowly rolled over, stood up, and ambled over to her fallen foe. Her Arm Cannon began to charge. 

 

Ridley, still embedded in the ground, looked up at her. His claws raked against the ground, desperately trying to pull his snout free. Samus, unhurried, walked past his head as the ball of plasma in her Arm Cannon grew. She stood under Ridley’s long neck, his head on her left and his body on her right. Samus’ left hand wrapped around Ridley’s throat as she lifted his body up to expose his chest. One of his claws swiped at her feet, but she kicked it aside. With Ridley draped over her shoulders, Samus’ Arm Cannon fired at last.

The sound of scratching in the chamber abruptly ceased, and Ridley’s body was instantly still. Samus exhaled in relief, and shrugged his monstrous corpse from her shoulders.

 

* * *

 

The gunship rolled, dodging another spurt of laser fire. Penny was trying her best to follow Samus’ advice.

“Stick to the Pirate ship,” Penny repeated to herself. “Evading is the first priority, only destroy other ships when it’s -” her thumbs pressed down on the controls, a ship in front of her exploded into debris “- necessary.”

Penny knew that there were far too many ships for her to properly fight, so she was abusing the gunship’s superior speed and maneuverability to stay ahead of the Pirate fighters, and buy Samus as much time as she could. However, it seemed like the Pirates had begun to catch on to her little game of keepaway.

Every time she had to directly engage with an enemy ship, it allowed the others to catch up. She always won the firefights, either destroying the enemy ship completely or at least damaging it too much to threaten her any further. However, the Pirates were chipping away at the Hunter-class gunship’s defenses, and Penny knew she didn’t have long. 

 

“Got it,” Samus said in her ear. 

Penny nearly jumped in surprise. “What’d you find?” She asked eagerly.

“A lead,” Samus managed. She let out a groan, as if she had just lifted something heavy. “Where am I picking you up?” Penny asked, doing her best to balance talking and flying.

“Same place you dropped me off,” Samus replied. Penny figured that there was more explanation that Samus wasn’t giving, due to shortness of breath, or perhaps she was otherwise occupied. She didn’t bother asking for more details. 

Penny banked upwards, taking a longer route to her destination in an attempt to throw off as many Pirates as she could. A few did veer off, though. Penny worried that they simply planned to cut her off elsewhere. One ship, meanwhile, got closer and closer. She dodged and wove around various features of the freighter’s architecture, desperately abusing her mobility, but the Pirate fighter stayed firmly on her tail. 

“Hey, I’ve got an unwelcome party guest,” Penny said into her headset. “Mind showing him the door?”

Samus made a confused sound. 

“You want me to what?” she asked. 

“Blow up the ship chasing me.” Penny was slightly disappointed that she’d had to explain.

“Almost there,” Samus said.  
“I’m here,” Penny said. She brought the gunship up to the docking bay where she’d dropped Samus off. “I can’t stay long!” She warned, as several shapes approached on the radar out of the corner of her eye.

“Go!” Samus shouted. Penny yanked the controls to the side, pulling away from the ship. 

“Where are you?” Penny asked. Suddenly, an audible _thump_ sounded from the ceiling, resonating throughout the ship. 

“Nevermind,” Penny said. “See the guys behind me?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Samus said. “Get ready for a push.”

 

* * *

 

After her rough landing, Samus had barely magnetized her boots onto the ship. She turned, and saw that Penny had indeed gathered quite a squadron of ships behind her.

Her Arm Cannon roared, a gigantic blue-white cylinder of plasma erupting from its mouth. Three of the ships at the center of the formation were badly damaged, crashing into two more. The formation fell apart, many of the ships scattering off to the side. 

“Are they coming after us?” Penny asked. 

“I’m not sure,” Samus said. “Feels like they would, but they’re backing off.”

“Maybe they were ordered back?” Penny asked. “I mean, they took a pretty big hit.”

“Ridley’s dead,” Samus said. “They probably don’t _have_ orders, right now.”

Samus was about to start heading inside the ship, but she noticed the Space Pirate freighter turning. It wasn’t moving towards them, though - it was moving _away._ Suddenly, its engines powered on, and it shot off in the other direction.

“Well.” Penny said, once she noticed it was gone. “That can’t be good.”

 

* * *

 

Penny heard the ship’s main ladder doors open, and she immediately flicked on the autopilot. She hastily unbuckled her seatbelt, jumping out of the cockpit. Samus turned around, stepping off the ladder. They both almost ran to each other, Penny leaping into Samus’ arms.

“Hey,” Samus said. Her Power Suit disappeared around her, and Penny’s hands instantly wrapped around her neck, their lips meeting soon after. Samus’ hands wrapped around her waist as the kiss deepened. They spent some time there before Penny finally pulled away, with a big, silly grin on her face. Their eyes met, and it was clear that Samus was just as relieved as she was.

“Hey,” Penny finally replied.

“I really missed you, too,” Samus began, “but my arms are pretty tired from… everything, today.” Penny realized that her feet hadn’t been on the ground for a few moments. Slowly, awkwardly, Samus put her down, and they let go of each other. Samus met her eyes again, and they both started giggling.

“We really did that, huh?” Penny asked. “I really flew a spaceship in actual combat?”

“You sure did, Princess,” Samus snickered. “What on earth would the public say?”

“I’m sure it would be _quite_ the scandal,” Penny said through her laughter.

  
  


“So,” Penny said, as they sat down at the kitchenette’s table. “What happened in there?”

“I think I might know where Blackburn’s hiding,” Samus said. “Let me explain.”

 

* * *

 

Samus took two exhausted steps forward before looking over her shoulder at Ridley’s lifeless corpse. She exhaled, and kept walking.

The far wall of the cavernous room was mostly taken up by a large window, which looked out over the rest of the ship. The ship’s console was meant for Ridley’s massive height, but Samus was able to jump up onto it. In a crouch, she moved carefully along the controls, making sure not to accidentally set anything off. She noticed a screen that was larger than the others, likely designed to hold a complete image rather than to simply serve as one indicator or another. Tentatively, Samus pressed one of the unmarked buttons beside the monitor.

The screen woke up, revealing a star chart. Samus tinkered with its controls until she was able to locate the ship’s navigational history. She quickly scrolled through the various trips that the Space Pirate freighter had taken, until she found one that wasn’t ever completed. Samus double-checked the dates, and they were correct. Expanding the chart of the Pirates’ unfinished trip finally revealed what she was looking for.

 

* * *

 

“Celuria?” Penny asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“I hadn’t either,” Samus said. “According to the Pirates’ navigation system, it was abandoned, but…”

“Blackburn’s there.” Penny said. Their eyes met. “Isn’t he?”

“Chances are that’s the case, yes,” Samus said. “It might have just been a random abandoned world, a place for him to… exchange you, for the Pirates’ fee.” Penny shuddered at the thought, and Samus covered Penny’s hand with her own. “But,” she continued, “if that was the case… there are plenty of abandoned worlds closer to Chora than this one. I figure he selected Celuria for a reason.”

Samus watched Penny take in a deep breath, and nod to herself. “So that’s it, then?” She asked. “We go there and knock on his front door?” 

“Well,” Samus said, “I didn’t exactly plan on knocking.” Penny gave her a smile, and Samus returned it, but her expression quickly faded. “Penny, I…” Samus faltered. Penny cocked her head, silently prompting her to continue. “Are you sure that you want to do this? Are you… are you sure you want to fight him, at all?”

“I’m not going to let you fight that bastard alone.” Penny said.

“Penny, I…”

“I know. You’ve always done everything alone,” Penny said quietly. “I know that I’m nowhere near as strong as you are, and you just want to keep me safe.” Samus wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. “I get it. I really do.” She gave Samus a weak smile. “But… if I’ve learned _anything_ in the time we’ve spent together, the safest place to be is right beside you.” Samus chuckled, despite herself. Penny took one of Samus’ hands in both of her own. “Please…” she began. “Don’t make me sit by the sidelines. Don’t make me wait to see if you come back to me or not. I don’t… if you go alone, and you don’t make it…”

“Penny.” Samus said. The princess met her eyes. “I understand.” She gave Penny’s hands a squeeze.

 

“We’ll face him together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! 
> 
> Sorry I've been on hiatus for so long, school has picked back up, and the vast majority of my energy for writing has gone to my assignments. I've been writing a lot of dialogue for a game, so when you do that for around five hours a day, it becomes pretty tough to write fanfic -_-
> 
> Fortunately for you, if you're hungry for more of my content, I actually spent a bit of precious free time on a new fic, set in the Pokemon universe! It's called Route 16, and it's about a Pokemon Center employee in the Alola region who falls for a Trainer from the Sinnoh region. And yes, they're both girls. Check it out here! https://archiveofourown.org/works/21304376/chapters/50732603
> 
> Anyways, I sincerely appreciate everybody's patience with me these past few months. Life has been pretty hectic but I swear that I *will* finish this fic, and keep adding to Fledglings until I exhaust every random idea that I have for it. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this chapter down in the comments! I'd truly appreciate some feedback, it really motivates me. Thanks again for being such wonderful readers!
> 
> -Red


	14. Celuria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are. The second to last chapter of Birds of a Feather.
> 
> I would like to very seriously warn readers that this chapter gets quite intense. To say it plainly, the chapter features a very serious attempt at manipulation/gaslighting. Please take care of yourself, though I promise that there will be emotional aftercare before the chapter's conclusion.
> 
> With all of that being said, please enjoy the final major chapter of this work. I could not have done it without readers like you, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you, and I hope you enjoy.
> 
> -Red

Samus felt Penny stir in her arms. “Hey,” she said.

Penny made a series of downright adorable sleepy noises before she finally blinked her eyes a few times and asked, “Sam?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” she replied softly.

“Oh, that’s good.” Penny said, rubbing her eyes. “Thought I’d lost you for a minute there.”

“What?”

“Mm… sorry. Nightmare.”

“Oh. Blackburn?”

“Yup.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Penny sighed and rolled over, staying within Samus’ arms but decidedly facing away from her. Samus threw her a bone. 

“... or, can I probably guess what it was?”

Penny made a distressed but affirmative noise.

“I see. How did I go?”

“Shot clean through. He got you with a laser pistol, just... right through the chest. I stared at the hole in your armor, you crumpled and that was that.” She curled in on herself a little further, as if she were able to prevent this outcome by making herself small enough.

“Well, if it’s any consolation,” Samus began, pulling her in closer and squeezing a little, “That isn’t how the Power Suit works.”

“It’s not?”

“Nope.”

“What do you mean, ‘nope?’ Any material can be pierced with enough force.”

“Nope.”

“Stop saying ‘nope’ and explain.” 

Samus chuckled. She’d hoped that she could make Penny feel better with that little game, but she figured a proper explanation was in order.

“The Power Suit… _can’t_ be destroyed. Not really. I can definitely be killed, but not while wearing it. It… hm. It’s not a physical object, not in the traditional sense. It’s almost like a solid illusion that I project around me that protects me from harm. That’s why I summon it at will rather than putting it on like normal clothing.”

“Okay, and… that illusion can’t be damaged?”

“Not piece-by-piece. With every hit I take, no matter where it is on my body, it depletes a little bit of the suit’s energy. I have six energy tanks, and when they’re all empty, the suit disappears, and then I’m almost definitely toast.”

“So... it’s like an energy shield? And you project it around yourself?”

“Basically.”

“Then why’s it solid? I’ve _felt_ it, it _feels_ solid.”

“I dunno, I never asked. Best answer I have is ‘so I can grab things while I’m wearing it.’”

“Why not just make a traditional set of armor, though?”

“Well, for one thing, because the Power Suit is functionally weightless, isn’t subject to any kind of armor-piercing weapon, and can’t really be stolen or lost. I’m literally always carrying it.”

“That’s true, I suppose,” Penny mused. Samus kissed the back of her head.

“Feel any better?”

“A bit, yeah. Thanks.” She turned back around, and green eyes met blue.

There was a long pause as they just stared at one another, each pretending that there wasn’t everything at stake. After a moment, Penny’s lips crashed into Samus’.

 

“Hey, so, I know we’re gonna fight for our lives in a little while,” Penny said. “And we _should_ be, like, preparing for that, maybe checking the ship’s radar to see if we were followed, or to watch for when Celuria comes into view.”

“Mhm,” Samus said in agreement.

“But instead of that, do you wanna just keep doing this?”

Samus’ response was to kiss her. 

 

* * *

 

The door to the metallic structure exploded off its hinges with a plasma blast from Samus’ Arm Cannon. Penny slinked past her right side, Paralyzer in hand. Samus took one step inside, pointing her Arm Cannon left.

Nothing.

Penny suppressed the urge to shout “anybody home?” and looked at Samus. The bounty hunter stayed in her ‘ready’ stance, looking around the small antechamber. She pointed the Arm Cannon at a small corner of the ceiling and shot a tiny burst of plasma at it.

There was a sharp _clank_ sound as a small technological device fell to the ground. Penny crouched down and immediately recognized the device. 

It was a camera.

“Can’t you, like, hack these?” Penny asked. 

“I’m a fighter, not a hacker,” Samus replied. Penny rolled her eyes and stood back up.

“So… do we split up? You go left, I go right?”

“Hell no,” Samus said instantly. “Splitting up is way more dangerous for both of us. I’ll take point, you cover my back.”

Penny breathed a sigh of relief. “Right behind you.”

 

The pair made it through Blackburn’s compound at a brisk but steady pace, with Samus taking out cameras as they went. The rooms were mostly identical, which was confusing and frustrating for Penny. She honestly had no idea where they were heading most of the time, though Samus appeared to be gathering a more complete map of the area in her head as they went. More than a few times, they reached a dead end, at which point Penny would whip around, Paralyzer in hand, ready to face someone who could be ambushing them. Each time, no one was there, and they would backtrack and continue.

“Sam, do you… think anybody’s home?” Penny asked. 

“He might not be here,” she admitted. “If he’s not, we can either wait inside or we can wait in the ship.”

“Which, do you think?”

“Up to you. Here we’ll have a better chance of surprising him, but the ship is safer.”

“Remind me why we didn’t just obliterate this thing from orbit?”  
“Because if he wasn’t home, we’d lose our only lead.”

“Right.”

“I’m not exactly keen on facing him either, but I _refuse_ to let him get the drop on us again.” Samus paused her speech, but not her movement. “You deserve to feel _safe_ again.”

Penny just nodded, with a gulp. One way or the other, she’d have to look him in the eyes one more time before this was through. 

Samus suddenly halted, arm out to stop Penny. She peered around an entranceway. 

“This chamber is much bigger than the others,” she said. Her opaque green visor met Penny’s eyes. “Ready?”

Penny gave a slow, sure nod. 

Samus walked into the chamber.

 

* * *

 

Samus looked around the large, darkened room for a moment. Something about it felt decidedly _off,_  and she was about to signal for Penny to wait before she noticed a strange floor pattern in front of her. Her eyes followed it, and the pattern surrounded her. It almost looked like the projection matrix for a laser cage.

 

 _Shit._  
  
Without even thinking, Samus whirled, her Plasma Whip already spilling out from her Arm Cannon. It swung towards Penny, wrapping once, twice, around her waist. Before the princess even realized what was happening, Samus used all of her might to heave her several feet forward. Penny’s eyes somehow met hers as she flew through the air, reaching for her. In slow motion, Samus watched those beautiful lips shape themselves around her name.

Then Penny’s eyes were gone from view, and she hit the ground hard, rolling over twice before landing on her stomach. 

In an instant, a tight series of hostile red beams leapt from the floor to the ceiling around her in all directions, the cage bursting to life with her inside. 

“SAM!” Penny screamed again. The anguish in her lover’s voice shook Samus to her very core - the hurt and betrayal evident in that single word before she understood that she’d been thrown outside the cage’s boundaries. She picked her body up just enough to see what had happened, and gave the most gorgeous, tender smile that Samus had ever seen. 

“Sam, you… you saved me.”

 

At that, a round of slow, sarcastic applause filled the room in the darkness. Penny leapt to her feet, Paralyzer still in hand. 

“That she did,” came the cold, cruel voice that they both had heard on one occasion before.

“Show yourself, you son of a bitch!” Penny shouted, near hysterical. “Let her out this instant or I swear to the heavens I will _end you._ ”

“Feisty, feisty,” Adrian Blackburn said, tutting in a tone that made Samus’ skin crawl. From the darkness, a figure emerged, decked out in full Galactic Federation-style gear. The lights of the large open chamber flicked on as well. Adrian was armored in black from head to foot, but his clear visor still allowed both women to see his sneer. He shook his head, as if they were children who had misbehaved.

“I was _hoping_ to have both of my pets in here at once, but I suppose that one of them was a little too clever for that.”

“Let me outta here and I’ll show you exactly how _clever_ I can be,” Samus growled, pointing the Arm Cannon right at his face. For a moment, she didn’t care that the cage would block her shots.

“Tsk tsk. A noisy pet.” His neutral, sarcastic mask instantly twisted to one full of absolute loathing. He reached for the controls on his arm, and with pure, unadulterated _hate_ in his voice, he declared, “ _Kneel._ ”

In an instant, the projectors for the laser cage moved along invisible tracks, tightening in. Samus’ room to move shrunk exponentially until she had less than two square feet to maneuver. Another set of projectors scrolled down along the existing lasers, and quickly arranged themselves into a lattice ceiling.

“Is that what you want, you maniac?” Penny screamed. “To _possess_ us? To _own_ us, like dolls?”

Adrian’s countenance didn’t waver - it was as if he hadn’t even heard. He looked directly at Samus. It was like he could see into her very soul.

“I _said…_ **_kneel._ **” The lattice ceiling descended upon Samus. On instinct, her hands rose to stop it. She pushed back against the shrinking cage for a moment, but its mechanism overpowered even her incredible strength, forcing her down to one knee. 

“ _SAM!”_ Penny screeched in agony. She brought up the Paralyzer, firing reckless, blind shots at the bars.

“Penny, don’t-” Samus managed under the strain, but it was too late. The shots were immediately reflected by the cage’s bars, and one of the orange blasts struck Penny in the shoulder. She fell from the force of the impact alone.

Adrian strolled over to her as if he were literally walking through a park, his neutral mask restored. When he made his way to Penny, now up on one knee, he reached down and snatched her up by her hair, immediately making Penny scream in pain as he forced her into arching her back.

“And as for _you_ ,” Adrian spat, his hatred returned in full force, “you may either join her willingly or suffer the consequences.”

Penny met his eyes for a moment, and she did the only sensible thing.

 

She spat in his face. 

 

With a roar of anger, Adrian _threw_ her, making Penny stumble forward, past Samus’ cage. Adrian wiped his visor with disgust and undisguised loathing. Penny stood her ground and matched his expression with determination.

“You will _never_ get your hands on her,” Penny declared. “I’m going to stop you, right here, right now.” She flicked down the mouth of the Paralyzer, its orange Plasma Whip spilling out from its mouth. She spun it around herself like a ribbon dancer, in full control of its movements after barely any training. 

“Bring it on.”

Some very small part of Samus’ mind noted that if she hadn’t already fallen deeply, truly in love with Penny, her sudden protective streak and incredible bravery would have done her in right there.

Adrian roared again in abject fury, reaching for his own weapon at his back. Several shots leapt from the assault rifle, and Penny whirled, using the Plasma Whip as a very small, highly maneuverable shield to block every one. Adrian lowered his rife, and to their utter shock, he began to _laugh_.

 

“What’s so funny?” Penny shouted.

“You,” Adrian replied. “You, my dear, are absolutely _hilarious._ ”

Penny was clearly taken aback, and Samus recognized his tactic immediately.

“He’s trying to mess with you!” Samus shouted. “Don’t let him into your head!”

“Oh, no, no,” Adrian said, waving away the possibility. “I’m just making an observation about how truly, hilariously _ironic_ this whole situation truly is.”

“Shut up!” Penny shouted, retracting the whip and squeezing the Paralyzer’s trigger. Its mouth began to hum with energy.

“No, sincerely,” he said. He put a hand on his hip. “ _Listen_ to yourself.” In an imitation of her voice, he continued, “‘Oh, you’ll never get your hands on her,’ ‘ooh, I’m going to _stop_ you’ - it’s truly amazing.”

Penny let the trigger go, and Adrian stepped artfully out of the way. Penny growled and started to approach him.

“You’re criticizing me, but my darling… you _are_ me.” Penny stopped cold in her tracks. 

“ _What_ did you say?” Penny asked.

“You still don’t see it?” He sneered.

“Penny, don’t _listen_ to him,” Samus warned, still straining against the cage’s walls. “He’s just trying to make you let your guard down.” Penny ignored Samus, and her heart broke.

“What… do you mean?” Penny asked shakily.

“I mean that you live in a glass house but you’ve built yourself quite the rock-throwing machine,” Adrian replied candidly. “Here you are, criticizing _me_ and _my_ behavior, but _you’re_ no different!” He laughed a cruel, heartless laugh. “I can see it on your face - you’re _so_ obsessed with her that you’re willing to _kill me_ over it!”

The color drained from Penny’s face. Samus watched Penny’s shoulders fall, and her heart rate doubled in fear.

Adrian took a few slow, measured steps towards Penny. “You want to _own_ her - you think that you ‘love’ her, but really, she’s like an _object_ to you. A beloved toy, a cherished pet. You want to _keep_ her, shut her off from the rest of the world. Don’t you? Every time someone else looks at her, you’re jealous. Every time she looks at someone else, you want to scream. Her presence is already so tied to your identity that you literally cannot imagine her being taken away from you.”

Suddenly, Adrian had closed the gap, and was inches away from her face.  
“You don’t love her. You _own_ her, and you just want to protect what belongs to you.”

“N-no…” Penny said, her voice trembling. She took a shaky step back. “You’re wrong. I… I love her, I _am_ in love with her, I…”

Adrian opened his mouth - Samus could almost _feel_ him take a breath. She couldn’t take it anymore.

“ _I LOVE YOU, TOO!”_ Samus shouted. Both heads whipped towards her, Penny’s eyes full of love and Adrian’s full of hate. “I love you so, _so_ much, Penny - and he’s _wrong!_ Stop listening and _fight!_ I just - I promise he’s wrong and I can’t explain it quickly but _please_ , please fight! I need you so much and - Penny watch out!”

Adrian struck Penny on the back of her head with the butt of his rifle. 

“ _PENNY!”_ Samus shouted, her voice cracking. To her surprise, she felt something - she had managed to use her left arm to protect her head from the laser cage. But suddenly, regardless, it had started to hurt. In fact, the back of her head was _pounding._ It came on out of nowhere… right when Adrian had struck Penny.

“Shut up!” Adrian shouted at her. “You can’t keep her from me. Not anymore.”

Penny shakily began to stand. She’d split her lip in the fall, and blood was running down her chin. She had a nasty purple bruise on her forehead, and it was already swelling. Penny managed to get to one knee before she stopped, unable to do anything but breathe heavily, near exhaustion.

 

Something began to build within Samus Aran. It was something she couldn’t quite explain. Normally, she was able to push her emotions down - keep them out of her work, even when she was faced with her personal demons. This encounter was very different for lots of reasons, and the kneeling form of her lover before their greatest nightmare was by far the biggest one. Samus had always been naturally protective - after all, she had saved the entire galaxy, more than once.

But here, things were _different_ in the most intense possible way. Samus felt powerless, and in that moment, she would do anything, bear any burden, pay any price to help Penny. So despite the cage crushing down around her, threatening to crush her into dust, she just barely managed to reach out through the bars. She felt the lasers singe her right hand but she didn’t care, as long as she could get even some small part of her body closer to Penny.

And, to her surprise, the thing covering her arm was not the black of her Arm Cannon. Instead, Samus looked down at the blue glove of her Zero Suit.

 

“Well, I already have one,” Adrian mused. “And this one _clearly_ doesn’t want to learn any respect.”

Almost casually, Adrian raised his rifle, pointing it right at Penny’s skull. “A pity,” he sighed, melancholy. “You know, I used to want you so _very_ badly.” For a moment, one eye drifted towards Samus. “But,” he shrugged. “I suppose she’ll do.” Adrian squeezed the trigger.

_Ping._

 

* * *

 

Penny breathed hard. She heard the shot go off, and then a metallic noise.

She didn’t feel anything.

Penny blinked her eyes, because she still wasn’t dead. When her vision seemed to clear, it was like she was looking through glass. She was almost startled to realize that she had a heads-up display. The most notable feature was the large meter across the top of her vision, which was labeled “Energy.” There was a small slice missing from it - if she had to guess, it still had about 93%. There were five small circles near one end, seeming to indicate that the meter could be depleted five more times.

Penny looked at her left hand. It was orange. Her right hand was bound inside of a large, heavy black cylinder. Some tiny, insignificant part of her mind made an incredibly startling realization.

She was wearing the Power Suit.

 

“Penny!” She dimly heard, almost like it was through speakers. “I - I don’t know how, but… I’ve got you! _You can do this!_ ”

With newfound strength, Penny drew herself up to her full height. A startled, nearly terrified Adrian Blackburn stared back. They were both frozen for a moment, completely stunned. Penny got over it first.

She raised her right arm and smacked Adrian across the face. 

The _clang_ of metal on metal drowned out Adrian’s resulting grunt as the strike gave him whiplash. He spun backwards, but to his credit, he recovered quickly. Seemingly, instinct took over as he entered a shooting stance and began firing rounds into Penny’s chest, one after the other.

Penny approached him unhurriedly, barely concerned about the tiny hits to the Power Suit’s energy. After about a dozen shots, she reached him, grabbing his rifle by the barrel. She shoved it away, and used the blunt force of the Arm Cannon to slug Adrian in the chest, followed by a quick left cross to his temple. The rifle skittered across the ground, and Adrian ran for it.

“Sam, how do I shoot?” Penny shouted.

“Right hand!” Samus shouted, full of adrenaline. “Top trigger for plasma, bottom one for missiles!”

Penny nodded, and pointed the Arm Cannon at Adrian’s prone form. Sure enough, she felt two triggers settled into the grip of the weapon - one under her index finger and one under her middle. With a tiny shrug, she squeezed the latter.

A missile erupted from the mouth of the Arm Cannon, splashing into the ground near Adrian as he crawled for his assault rifle. The explosion launched him over it, and he bounced along the ground like a rock skipped along a lake. 

“Plasma Whip?” Penny asked as she broke off into a run, chasing after him.

“Button on your thumb!” Samus replied.

Penny pressed down and sure enough, the brilliant blue-white tether spilled out of Penny’s Arm Cannon, and she whipped it towards Adrian’s prone form. The tether latched onto his boot, and she reeled him in. Once Adrian was at her feet, Penny let the Plasma Whip detach from his leg, wrapping it instead around his torso. With a grunt, she lifted him up to eye level, tearing off his helmet.

Penny brought Adrian’s face right up to hers, his nose practically against the visor. His nose was still a little crooked from when Samus had punched him. Stars above, that felt like eons ago. Penny’s eyes narrowed, even though he couldn’t see that. Barely restraining herself, Penny growled.

“ _Let. Her. Go.”_

Without even the slightest hesitation, Adrian reached for the controls on his arm. At the push of a button, Penny heard the sound of a mechanism powering down, and of a woman falling to her knees. 

Refusing to take her eyes off of Adrian, Penny called out. “Sam? Are you okay?”

“Ye - yeah,” Samus said, coughing. “I’m good. I’ll be fine.”

Penny felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she blinked them away quickly.

“That’s good. That’s great. Okay.” Her eyes narrowed on Adrian once more. 

Without a word, Penny reached for Adrian’s arm, handily sliding off the wrist gauntlet with the controls to his laser cage. She turned, using the suit’s added strength to carry him over to where Samus was still panting on all fours. 

“Sam,” Penny began politely, “I’m going to throw this asshole into that cage you’re sitting on. Would you mind moving a bit so I can do that?” 

A chuckle escaped Samus’ lips, despite it all. “Yeah, give me a second.”

“Take your time,” Penny said indulgently. 

After a few more seconds, Samus stood up, ambling over to Penny. With her left arm, Penny began supporting her, then she threw Adrian into the general area of the laser cage. She examined the controller she’d taken for a moment, and with a push of a button, the cage popped back into existence, just as it had to trap Samus originally.

At last, knowing that they were finally, truly safe, Penny’s shoulders slumped with relief.

“Hey,” Samus said. “You did it.”

Samus’ Zero Suit was damaged pretty heavily in several areas. It had several scorched holes in it from pressing against the laser cage, and the underlying skin didn’t exactly look much better. The normally pristine blue of the suit appeared much more worn, and Samus had two black marks on her face, probably from the heat of the lasers. Her lip was split as well, and it was bleeding a little bit.

But none of it could even slightly dampen the beauty of the smile on her face. 

“We both did.” Penny said. “Sam, you… you saved my life. With the suit. How did you just _give_ me the suit?” Samus shook her head, still grinning.

“I have absolutely no idea.”

 

There was a spluttering sound from the cage beside them. Adrian propped himself up on his elbow, his chest still visibly rising and falling. 

“You’re not gonna get away with this,” he spat. “You two came into my _house._ Onto _my_ planet! The Federation will save me and they’ll lock you up forever.” Penny rolled her eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh.

“The Galactic Federation owes three massive favors to me, personally,” Samus replied, almost bored. “Plus, we have plenty of evidence to prove that you antagonized us first.”

“Those letters poisoned with Nakite gas,” Penny mused.

“The agent you sent to Penny’s home who tried to kidnap me,” Samus noted.

“You hired the Space Pirates to kidnap _me_ ,” Penny added. 

“And I can prove that with the data I took from their ship,” Samus finished.

“Plus,” Penny said, having great difficulty in disguising her gloating tone, “The Power Suit has been recording this _whole time_.”

 

Nothing in Penny’s life would ever be sweeter than holding Samus in her arms, finally safe again.

But, truth be told, watching the color drain from Adrian Blackburn’s face was a close second.

“C’mon, Sam,” Penny said. She took the Power Suit’s helmet off, and kissed her lover on the lips. She tasted of iron, sweat, and dirt, but Penny couldn’t even begin to care.

“Let’s go home.”

 

* * *

 

Samus flopped bonelessly onto the bed in her ship, totally exhausted. She and Penny had taken turns patching each other up as best they could with the medical kit, and they had used nearly everything in it. The Power Suit had completely protected Penny once she’d started wearing it, but she’d definitely taken a few pretty serious hits before then. She sat next to Samus, leaning against the headboard, her hip lined up against Samus’ shoulder.

Wordlessly, Samus took Penny’s hand and brought it to her mouth, kissing her palm.

“Hey,” Penny said affectionately. “Is the Federation on their way to pick up Blackburn?”

“Yup,” Samus replied. “I told them to take their time with it, though. No reason to rush.

“Mm.” Penny agreed. For a while, they sat there in a comfortable, exhausted silence.

 

“Okay, so, I have to ask,” Penny said. “What happened there, with the suit? I know you said you didn’t really know how you did it, but…”

“I have developed…” Samus began, slowly sitting up to lean against the headboard next to Penny, “... a theory. One which you can now test, if you like.”

“Okay, now I’m curious,” Penny said, and Samus laughed. She leaned forward a bit and closed her eyes, and the familiar orange of the Power Suit wrapped itself around her once more. 

“All right,” she said. “I want you to close your eyes and concentrate. Remember what wearing the suit feels like.”

“Okay…” Penny said dubiously, but she obeyed.

“Now, see if you can reach out and try to find where it is, right now. Not with your hands, with your mind.” Penny’s brow furrowed in concentration for a moment, but then she realized that she could _feel_ it. Even while her eyes were closed, she was distinctly aware of the location of every inch of the Power Suit. 

“I… I can see it,” Penny said. “How can I see it?”

“It’s a psychic link,” Samus said, giddy like a schoolgirl. “Just like me. Go on. Take it.”

When Penny’s eyes opened again, she was looking through a heads-up display once more. Samus, despite her injuries, sat up to her knees and almost immediately started bouncing up and down on the bed with excitement. 

“You can wear the Power Suit! It’s not just mine, now - it’s _ours!”_ Penny’s heart fluttered at the idea, and she let the suit disappear once more. Samus blinked, almost in surprise. It was the first time she’d seen someone else make it appear or disappear.

“Okay,” Penny said, slowly accepting the reality that she was psychically linked to an ancient Chozo artifact made specifically for her girlfriend, “but where did that theory come from?”

Samus absentmindedly rubbed at the back of her head. “Remember when he smacked you in the head with the butt of his rifle?” Samus asked. Penny nodded. “Well… I think I _felt_ it. The moment he hit you, _my_ head started really hurting. I can’t even begin to explain it, but…” a small blush began to rise in her face. “I think you _might_ have a psychic link with me, too.”

“Oh,” Penny simply said, her cheeks getting warm. She pinched her arm.

“Ow!” Samus said immediately, rubbing her own arm. She pinched the same area, and Penny felt a small, sharp pain for a moment. She gasped, in equal parts pain and surprise.

“I’m gonna think of a color.” Penny said.

“Okay,” Samus said. A moment passed. “Purple.”

“No.”

Both of them immediately breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Looks like our thoughts are still private,” Penny chuckled. “And uh… hey. About all those things you said back there… that you love me…?”

“Oh,” Samus said, her cheeks now a full-on scarlet. “I… yeah. I love you, Penny. I’ve loved you for a long, long time now - I just hadn’t gotten the courage to say it.”

Penny grabbed both of her cheeks and kissed her. Breathlessly, Samus kissed her back, her arms wrapping around Penny’s shoulders like she was daring the entire world to try and take her away. 

The kiss broke suddenly, and Penny replied, “I love you too, Samus Aran. I love you so, so _much_ and I can’t imagine my life without you.” 

A sudden, emotional pain twisted itself inside her gut. Penny let go of Samus as if she were aflame, and curled herself up into a ball.

“Penny?” Samus asked, eyes filled with concern. “What is it - what’s wrong?” Penny looked away. 

“I just… that’s exactly what Blackburn said.”

“Hey,” Samus said, her palms gently but forcefully covering Penny’s knees. “I said he was wrong then, remember?” Penny drearily nodded. “Well, I didn’t have the time to explain it back then, but I do right now.” She sighed.

“Penny, he was manipulating you. The things he said - they weren’t true, but in the moment, he made them _feel_ true. You _don’t_ see me like an object, a toy, a pet - nothing like that. I know that, and you know it. It may not feel that way right now, because of the way he said what he did, but I have _proof_ , okay?”

Penny sniffled, still refusing to meet her gaze. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Samus said, just as much for herself as it was for Penny. “Do you remember our first kiss?” Samus asked. Penny nodded. “Afterwards, what was the very _first_ thing that you did?”

“I thought you maybe didn’t want to be kissed,” Penny said. “I was afraid I’d overstepped, that I had done something that you weren’t okay with.”

“Exactly,” Samus replied. “You were concerned about _my_ well-being over your own desires. You wanted to kiss me, and I wanted to kiss you, too - but in that brief moment, you second-guessed yourself, and you made _sure_ that I was okay. Despite _everything_ that had happened between us, all of the positive signals I’d been giving you, you wanted to be _sure_ that a kiss was okay.” She gave Penny a little smile. “And trust me - it was definitely more than okay.”

Penny finally chuckled at that, and Samus’ heart felt so much warmer.

“I know that it’s hard when somebody is able to speak aloud your deepest, darkest fears.” Samus stated. “But _trust me_ , Penelope Stargazer, you see me as _so much more_ than just… whatever he thinks other people are.”

“Thank you…” Penny said quietly. She let out a laugh. “I go through _all_ this trouble just to be the big hero in the end, and you’ve still gotta save _me_ one last time. Even if it’s just by saying all this.”

Samus gave her a cheeky little grin. “I can’t just be the damsel in distress, totally saved by her girlfriend, can I? I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

Penny burst into laughter at that, finally pulling out of the little ball she’d curled herself into.

“So you _do_ want to be my girlfriend, huh?” Penny asked. “I know we hadn’t been using that word yet…”

“Only if _you_ will be _my_ girlfriend,” Samus replied with a flirty little wink. She seemed to sober up a little, and said, “Seriously, though, I think it’s a good word to start using.” She scrubbed at the back of her head. “In fact, it’s probably overdue, considering I’ve overheard your dads call me your girlfriend at _least_ three times already.”

Penny smiled. “Yeah,” she said. “I heard them say it once or twice, too.” They both chuckled.

“Okay,” Samus groaned. “That’s about as long as I can tolerate being without back support.” She painstakingly rolled over to sit on Penny’s right, and made a noise of relief as soon as her back was once again resting against the headboard.

Wordlessly, Penny slowly leaned over and rested her head on Samus’ shoulder. With a small grunt of effort, Samus’ arm was draped across her back, and a kiss was planted on her head.

“Love you.” She said softly.

Penny snuggled in closer.

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so very, very much for reading. I've got one more chapter left to go, I think - a wrap-up epilogue before I let the canon progress into Fledglings (which, by the way, I plan to continue until I completely run out of ideas).  
> Please let me know what you think of this chapter - I know it was quick, but I'd spent so long being paralyzed about where to go with this chapter other than the end. 
> 
> There are so many other things that I could say, but you've just read over five thousand words from me (well over FIFTY thousand, if you've gotten here in one sitting), so you probably deserve a break from me. Thank you so very much, once more, and please leave a comment, especially if you haven't yet. I'd love to hear from you, and I will respond to every single one. 
> 
> Thank you for being with me in this. See you on the other side.
> 
> -Red


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to just be a thousand words or so, then I thought of another scene that I wanted, and another, and another, and... oops.
> 
> Please enjoy this final chapter of Birds of a Feather.
> 
> -Red

“Explain it to me again?” King Daniel asked wearily. 

The Federation scientist adjusted his glasses. “Well, Your Grace, the energy signature that I had never observed in any human besides Miss Aran appears to have, well… spread… to your daughter.”

“How, exactly?” King Jacob asked. He also smiled internally at the sheer concept of how the battle-hardened woman, still covered in injuries and cradling Penny in her arms, would have responded to being called “Miss Aran” if either of them were currently awake.

“We aren’t exactly sure,” the scientist replied. “We do know that Miss Aran was gifted her Power Suit by the Chozo, and we suspected that this energy signature we saw in her was that artifact’s presence around her body.”

“You  _ suspect _ it’s that?” King Daniel replied, unimpressed. The scientist bristled. 

“Well, Miss Aran did not  _ exactly _ choose to stick around after her emergency surgery. That was the longest time she’d ever really allowed any scientists at the Federation to observe her.”

King Jacob chuckled. “That does sound like her.” His husband nodded in agreement.

“What does the link  _ mean, _ for the two of them?” King Daniel pressed. “Penny told us she can wear Samus’ Power Suit, that they feel each others’ pain, and that they  _ don’t _ know each others’ thoughts, or at least not in detail. Is there anything else? What should we know about this for the future?”

“It’s hard to say,” the scientist replied, running his fingers through his hair. When both kings crossed their arms, his shoulders sank in exasperation. “You must understand, as far as the entirety of the Galactic Federation’s scientific research is concerned, this kind of thing has  _ never _ happened before. Miss Aran’s unique circumstances were already - “

“I’m rather certain that she would prefer ‘Samus,’” King Daniel finally interjected. The scientist huffed.

“Fine.  _ Samus’ _ unique circumstances were already somewhat beyond our understanding. Due to our frustratingly limited knowledge of the Chozo, and the bounty hunter’s own, erm…  _ reclusive _ tendencies…”

King Jacob just slowly raised an eyebrow as a warning. 

“... our data on this is far too limited to draw any conclusions besides the ones that both of them have already come to themselves.” King Daniel rolled his eyes.

“The Federation is by far the largest and most well-funded organization in the galaxy, and all you can tell us about this is ‘we don’t know?’”

“Danny,” King Jacob admonished, though his heart wasn’t really in it. His husband  _ was _ essentially right.

“Apologies,” King Daniel replied. “Regardless, sir, thank you for your time. I think that my daughter and my ward could really use some rest, now. The staff can show you to your ship.” At this, the scientist was aghast.

“Y-your Grace?” he asked. “Surely you’ll allow me to stay and study this incredible phenomenon further! If given enough time, I’m sure that there would be an incredible breakthrough in the way that we understand ancient Chozo technology - “ He was interrupted as King Jacob’s hand was suddenly clamped on his shoulder from behind, nearly startling him out of his chair.

“Absolutely not,” the king said firmly. “My daughter and my ward have just had a near-death experience, and are still recovering from their injuries. I will not allow some Federation scientist to go poking and prodding at either of them, and I doubt very much that either of them feels any differently.” The scientist was dismayed, but he didn’t dare turn around, as the king’s powerful hand kept him seated. “In fact, I don’t suspect that anyone will be performing any ‘research’ on either of them ever again.’”

“You must understand, sir,” King Daniel said, meeting the scientist’s gaze, “Our daughter has always been something of a celebrity, at least here on Chora. I would imagine that Samus has even  _ more _ notoriety, especially in the Federation.” The scientist nodded slowly, to indicate that he understood. “So, if anyone were to make a fuss about this in the Federation, I don’t imagine that either of them would be able to maintain much privacy. Especially if this phenomenon  _ is _ as unique as you say.”

The scientist gulped as he felt King Jacob’s hand squeeze him ever so slightly tighter.

“We value their privacy very, very much,” King Jacob said. His husband nodded.

“So,” King Daniel said, his tone perfectly even and reasonable, “we think it would be best for no one in the Federation to ever  _ learn _ about this unique phenomenon. If they were to discover it, my husband and I would be quite… upset. “ For a tiny instant, he glared daggers at the man, then his pleasant countenance returned. “Is that clear?”

“C-crystal,” the scientist replied immediately. 

“Wonderful!” King Daniel said, clapping his hands together. King Jacob released his iron grip from the scientist’s arm. “Have a lovely evening, and thank you very much for stopping by.” The scientist merely nodded, and quickly scurried out of the room. 

 

Both men immediately sighed. 

“Do you think we were a little  _ too _ harsh?” King Jacob asked. 

“Probably,” his husband sighed. “Guess this whole thing has us a little overprotective, huh?”

King Jacob snorted. “Yeah, but I almost don’t know why we bother. They seem like they’ve been taking pretty good care of themselves.” He looked over at Penny and Samus, still asleep. They were sitting upright in a queen-sized bed, since a guest room had been repurposed for all of the Federation’s scientific equipment. Samus’ right arm was laid protectively over Penny’s shoulders, and Penny’s cheek rested against her shoulder. They both looked positively exhausted.

“Well, everybody needs a little help sometimes,” King Daniel said, unsubtly pressing himself against his husband, a clear request to be held. King Jacob laughed and kissed the top of his head, wrapping his arms around the man he’d spent decades loving. They fit together perfectly, as they always had. 

“I suppose so.”

“Do you think they’ll stay here?” King Daniel asked.

“I don’t know.” King Jacob replied. “But I imagine that wherever it is that they’ll go… they’ll do it together.”

 

* * *

  
  


Samus followed the sound of soft piano music as it echoed through the halls of the castle. She turned a corner on the third floor and found Penny playing in an otherwise mostly empty chamber. It had likely been selected for its acoustics - the driving ballad that Penny was playing vibrantly filled the room, each note compounding over the last and all swelling towards the arched ceiling. The song felt like it  _ should _ be sorrowful, based on the minor key and the slow tempo, but there was an assertiveness to it. The melody was soft and light at first, but it picked up, getting faster and stronger. The lower chords were powerful, but not in a dark way, traditional of sadder songs. They were more  _ resolute, _ as if they were ready to face some theoretical challenge - or because they had already met one, and conquered it.

The music swelled to its climax and the room seemed to vibrate with the strength of the melody - Samus could feel it all around her, filling up the space inside her lungs. She could  _ feel _ the slight but noticeable soreness in Penny’s fingers each time they struck the keys, as if she were playing the instrument herself. The sheer  _ emotion _ of the piece began to overtake her, and she became almost overwhelmed by her dual perspective - she was still conscious as an observer, but she could also feel the broad strokes of Penny’s emotions as her perspective traveled across their psychic link.

Suddenly, the echoing bass chords disappeared, leaving only the melody. The relative silence was deafening. The song slowly began to fade, like a candle softly approaching the end of its lifespan. At last, Samus watched Penny’s shoulders fall, her body finally relaxing, as the final upwards trill of the piece - soft and elegant, yet hopeful - came to its conclusion. Even as the silence returned, the emotion still thickly surrounded them both. 

 

Samus gently cleared her throat, making her lover jump in surprise. She turned her body around on the piano bench.

“Oh! Hey, Sam - sorry, I had no idea you were there.”

“I didn’t want to distract you, I just wanted to listen. Penny, that was… gorgeous. Where did you learn to play like that?”

“I  _ told _ you that you could come to my piano lessons,” Penny said, rolling her eyes with performative annoyance.

“Sorry,” Samus said, her apology genuine despite Penny’s sarcasm. “I don’t know why I didn’t listen to you play any sooner. You’re absolutely incredible, truly.”

“Fifteen years of practice,” Penny groaned, stretching her arms upwards above her head. Samus heard her neck crack before she settled and gave a little melancholy grin. “I always figured I’d be able to use this thing to flirt with girls.”

Samus laughed at that, walking towards the bench. Penny scooted to make room for her to sit. “Well fortunately, I’m your girlfriend, so you may flirt with me all you like.”

“Want me to play you something, love?” She asked endearingly.

“Only if you want,” Samus said. “Your fingers hurt a bit, though.”

“Oh, right, you can feel that,” Penny said. She curled and uncurled her fingers absentmindedly. “I’m still getting used to the whole ‘psychic link’ thing.”

“Yeah,” Samus replied. “I’ve never had one with another person before.”

“Does this mean that we’re… I dunno, tied together now? Like… forever?”

Samus considered that for a moment.

“Maybe, but… I don’t necessarily think so.”

“No? Sam, we  _ literally _ feel each others’ pain. That seems pretty permanent to me.”

“It could be,” Samus mused. She clasped Penny’s hand, turning to face her on the bench. “I  _ want _ it to be. Or, I guess, with where I am right now, I want  _ us _ to be. But I think that if we, like, I dunno... broke up for some reason… I don’t think your foot would hurt if I kicked somebody.”

“What, so we could maybe… let go of it? If we wanted to?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve maintained my link with the Power Suit for so many years because it’s been such a part of me, I’ve been using it so much. But, recently, like when I hadn’t worn it for  more than two weeks because I was here, it felt just a tiny bit harder to reach. It still came to me when I called, but I guess it felt a little… farther away.”

“Huh.” Penny said, pensive. “So… maybe we’ll only keep it if we maintain it. If we  _ stay _ together, stay in love, all of that.”

“Exactly.”

“Mm.” Penny said. She pushed her hair behind an ear, and squeezed Samus’ hand.

“Well…” Samus began, maybe a little nervous, “I’m not going anywhere…”

Penny’s eyes lit up  _ instantly, _ like she was getting something she didn’t dare hope for.

“A-are you sure?” She asked, stumbling. “I mean… I always figured that once you were rested up, you’d maybe go back to working or something…”

Samus let out a little laugh. “First of all, I recovered from that fight six days ago. If I was going to, I would have left by now.” Penny chuckled softly. “Secondly, I’m pretty sure that  _ someone _ told me that I’ve been working myself too hard for the past…” she paused to count. “... seven years.” Penny gave her a grin.

“Well, this ‘special someone’ sounds like she really cares about you.” Samus returned the smile.

“I think that she does.”

For a while, the only noise in the chamber was the gentle sound of their lips pressing against one another.

 

* * *

 

“So… can you mend it?” Samus asked.

Quinn looked over her mostly-ruined Zero Suit with their professional eye. 

“What did you  _ do _ to this thing, exactly?”

“I… um… I held up a laser cage that was trying to crush me.” Quinn’s eyebrows raised at that, though only slightly.

“Goodness, you must be strong - no wonder she likes you.” Samus felt her cheeks instantly go crimson. “As for the suit,” Quinn continued, as though they hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary, “I fear that it may be damaged beyond realistic repair. The material won’t stretch enough to still fit you if I were to sew all of the tears closed. And, while I  _ could _ theoretically attempt to create several patches with the approximate dimensions of each tear, I wouldn’t be able to approximate the original fabric well enough. Even if I could, the suit would be covered in spots that were vulnerable to tearing again if put under any stress.”

“Oh, I see…” Samus replied, a little crestfallen. Penny affectionately rubbed her shoulder, sympathetic.

“However,” they said, “I do still have all of your measurements. Give me a month or two.”

Samus’ eyes lit up. “You mean you could make something just like this?” Quinn rolled their eyes, dismissive.

“Please - I’ll make something better.” Their usually cold, professional demeanor warmed up a bit, and they gave a rare smile. “What colors were you thinking?”

 

* * *

 

“Penny, could you please tell your girlfriend that it’s time for dinner?” King Daniel asked, carrying a plate in each hand. 

“She has a  _ name, _ Dad,” Penny sighed.

“Oh, I know that she does,” he said. “But please understand that as your father, it’s my sworn duty to embarrass you whenever possible.” Penny gave him a long-suffering stare before she closed her eyes. 

A moment passed, and then Penny spoke up again. “She’s coming - and her book is apparently really good.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to you doing that,” King Jacob said as he lit the candles around the smaller dining table. “We always told you that you could be anything, sweetheart, but we weren’t expecting you to become  _ telepathic.” _

“It’s not  _ really _ telepathy,” Penny said. “We can just… share feelings. We found out when she walked in on me playing the piano the other day.”

“And ever since then,” Samus said, walking in, “we’ve started using it to send simple things. For example, I came down because Penny sent me ‘hungry.’”

King Daniel shook his head. “Kids these days. Back when I was dating your father, we had to actually communicate with our  _ mouths.” _

“A simpler time,” his husband agreed. Penny and Samus shared a look, and they didn’t need a psychic link to know exactly what the other was thinking.

 

When the table was all set, the kings exchanged a look. “So, before we start,” King Jacob said, “We have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver key on a ring. Penny’s eyes lit up, while Samus remained confused.

“You’re giving us the cabin?!?!” Penny nearly shouted. Her father’s fingers closed around the key, as if he were momentarily withholding it.

“We are granting you  _ access _ to the cabin. Your father and I need time away from all this too, you know.”

“Fair, fair,” Penny said.

Penny noticed Samus’ confusion and started to explain. “My great grandfather built a cabin out in the woods near the castle - in that forest where we landed when we first got here. My dads used to take me out there when we got sick of all the pageantry and the… everything. It’s a cute, quiet little place a few miles from here.”

King Jacob nodded. “And we both figured that you two deserve some rest, and  _ definitely _ some privacy.”

“Speaking of, I would imagine that we won’t be hearing from the Federation for some time, or perhaps not at all,” King Daniel added, taking a bite of his steak. “We… gently persuaded them to leave you both alone, once they told us that Blackburn was in their custody.”

Penny nodded, and all of them were quiet for a moment.

“What… what was his whole plan, by the way?” Samus finally asked. “I mean, maybe I shouldn’t be wondering what that lunatic’s escape strategy really was, but…”

Both men sighed. 

“He… had some rather lofty political goals,” King Jacob said. “You see, there’s a bit of what we’ll admit is a loophole in Chora’s legal definitions for the roles of monarch and Grand Arbiter of the Council.  _ Technically,  _ it is possible for one individual to be both, simultaneously.”

“Now, no one would ever elect a current monarch or even someone in line for the throne as a Grand Arbiter, because the people of Chora aren’t stupid,” King Daniel continued, “but  _ technically,  _ the people of Chora would have no say in who the current Princess, or even a current Ward of the crown, would choose to marry, even if that person currently held the office of the Grand Arbiter.”

“Um…” Samus interjected. “Does this mean that I could inherit the throne? Sorry, kind of a minor, more tangential point, but…”

“No, love, that’d only happen if…” Penny began explaining automatically, before she realized. “Stars, only if the rest of the  _ entire royal family _ were dead…”

“Or abdicated,” King Daniel added impishly. “But, yes.”

“How did he plan to secure the seat of Grand Arbiter?” Samus asked. “Doesn’t sound like an office that one can just walk into.”

“Adrian’s father has held the office for nearly twenty years,” King Jacob said. “He’s made a lot of connections on the existing council in that time.  _ If, _ once his father retired, he pursued the office… well, before we learned about his absolute lunacy… it isn’t too far out of the realm of possibility that he might have landed it.”

“It’s a pretty easy campaign to run,” King Daniel added. “A classic, romantic tale of the new Arbiter learning it all at his daddy’s knee.”

Penny shook her head in disbelief.

“But,” King Jacob said, his tone much lighter, “the Federation told us this afternoon that he spent his first night of many in a maximum-security prison yesterday. He will definitely be there for the rest of his life.”

Both women breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now,” King Daniel said, “On to happier things. Penny, your room’s remodel is finally complete.”

Penny’s eyes widened in surprise - Samus could feel her delight through their link. She gave Samus a look, and chuckled.

“What is it?” Samus asked.

“Well, I guess it’s not just ‘my’ room anymore,” Penny said, tilting her head towards Samus. “I mean…”

“I, um… I’d definitely rather stay with you,” Samus said, very nervous admitting this around her girlfriend’s dads. “If… if that’s okay…”

King Jacob dramatically rolled his eyes, and his husband shook his head with a smile.

“Oh, please, you two, we weren’t born yesterday,” King Jacob said. “We know exactly what you get up to when we aren’t around.” Penny went crimson, and Samus just stared blankly at them both. King Daniel gave his husband a bemused, sidelong glance before chiming in.

“We had another dresser installed, just opposite yours, Penny,” he said. To Samus, he added, “We’ll help you move all your clothes and towels and everything to her room tomorrow, if you like. Let us know if there’s anything else you need in terms of furniture.”

“I um… thank you so much,” Samus replied, struggling to sound properly grateful after what King Jacob had just said to them. “Sorry, I’m just…”

“Yes, well, my husband promised me he would be a bit more tactful with this,” King Daniel said. Said husband was busy taking a completely unapologetic sip of his wine.

“Let’s eat, shall we?” Penny asked loudly. Everyone was quick to agree.

 

* * *

 

Penny led Samus through a hallway that she’d never been down before. They reached a spiral staircase inside what Samus guessed was one of the castle’s towers. 

“So,” Penny said. “This leads to my room.”

“You had this tower all to yourself?” Samus asked.

“Yep,” Penny said. If Samus didn’t know her as well as she did, she wouldn’t have heard the faint bit of sadness in her tone. 

“Lonely, huh?” Samus replied, knowingly. Penny stopped on the stairs for a moment.

“Honestly? Yes,” Penny said, almost like she were fully realizing it for the first time. “It’s so stupid - there were always people around. My dads, the maids, Quinn, my friends from university… I was always surrounded by people.” She laughed. “Honestly, when I got kidnapped, that was the longest time I’d spent without seeing anybody in… years.”

“Just because you were surrounded by people doesn’t mean you weren’t lonely,” Samus said gently.

“Okay, maybe, but it’s not as if I was ever lonely like you. I was just a dumb, hopeless romantic, I guess. Surrounded by people, but not happy with any of them - at least, not in the way that I wanted.” Samus frowned.

“Sure - maybe you haven’t experienced loneliness like me. You probably haven’t spent months without talking to another sentient being, just adrift in the universe with your thoughts, like I have.” She looked Penny right in the eye. “You have your  _ own  _ version of loneliness.”

Penny blinked for a moment.

“I… yeah. I guess you’re right.” She let out a soft little laugh. “Where have you been all my life?”

“Saving the galaxy?” Samus asked. Penny laughed again. She started climbing the stairs again, and Samus followed.

“Well then, aren’t I greedy for wanting you all to myself?” Penny joked.

“If anyone  _ else _ in the galaxy wants me for something, you can tell them I’m not home,” Samus replied. “I’ve done enough fighting for one lifetime.”

Penny simply hummed at that, and they reached the landing at the top of the tower staircase. 

 

The pair of wooden double doors opened to a large, mostly circular chamber. Right away, one could tell that it belonged to Penny - the carpet was lush and pink, and incredibly soft. The room had several windows, facing out in nearly every direction. They all had a set of curtains, which tastefully matched the carpet. The biggest feature of Penny’s room was her - no,  _ their _ \- four-poster canopy bed, which featured a white duvet and entirely too many pillows. Sure enough, there were indeed two dressers, each one between a set of windows on either side of the bed. There were also two bedside tables, each with a small lamp. Samus saw a large vanity made of some kind of richly stained wood taking up a small section of one wall. The last major feature was a door that led to a bathroom, and the wall dividing it from the bedroom section prevented the chamber from being a complete circle. Samus looked above her to observe the final detail: a large, silver chandelier hanging delicately from the ceiling. It was the room’s only light source, though Samus imagined that the windows in every direction could catch quite a bit of sunlight during the day. 

Penny seemed to wait until Samus had taken it all in before smiling and pecking her on the cheek. “C’mon,” Penny said. “Welcome home, love.” She walked into the room, lazily flopping down on the bed. Samus couldn’t help but grin.

“Ohhh, how I’ve missed this,” Penny sighed. “The beds in the rest of the castle are nice, but there’s just something about returning to your  _ own _ bed, you know?”

“I can imagine,” Samus said, happy to flop down next to her. “I don’t think I’ve stayed in the same bed long enough yet to really tell.”

“Another thing to look forward to, then,” Penny said with a smile. 

“Yeah…” Samus said. “It’s just so strange. On some level this almost doesn’t even feel real.” She made a grand gesture up towards the sky with her arms. “I always thought I’d spend the rest of my life out there, you know? I never could have imagined actually settling down.” She shrugged, turning to meet Penny’s eyes. 

“What changed?” Penny asked.

“I met the right girl,” Samus said, which immediately earned a laugh from the princess.

 

For a while, they just sat there together, in a comfortable silence. Finally, Penny kissed Samus on the cheek, got around halfway undressed, and started to take her makeup off. 

“Hey,” Samus said, thinking aloud. “If I wanted to start learning how to do makeup, what should I do?” Penny laughed, and responded while still focusing on her reflection.

“I  _ imagine _ that I could show you a thing or two,” Penny said. “I could also do your makeup for you, at least to start.” Samus was not at all against the idea of Penny’s hands being all over her face for a while. 

“I’d like that,” Samus said. “It can be our next little adventure together.” Penny chuckled. She’d finished taking her makeup off, and returned to the bed. Unprompted, she sat directly on top of Samus, straddling her waist. They shared a long, passionate kiss before Penny sat back with a smile.

“And what adventure shall we have after that?” Penny asked.

“I don’t have much of a preference for the order,” Samus replied. They shared a laugh and a kiss. Samus stopped and took a long moment to meet her lover’s eyes, feeling the weight of all of their travels between them. She had never felt more comfortable or confident about anything in her entire life. Penny slightly cocked her head, noticing that something was on Samus’ mind. Samus let out a small laugh, reaching up to cup her cheek.

“I’ll go anywhere as long as it’s with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are!
> 
> Thank you so, so very much for reading. This fic has been my main passion project for more than half a year, and I'm absolutely thrilled about how well it turned out - and at how kind and supportive all of you were during it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I will continue to read and respond to every comment, and I hope that you all will get to hear more from me in the future!
> 
> Now that the fic is done, I think I'm going to do a major editing/revision pass on the entire thing, really just removing smaller errors and turning it into precisely the story that I know it can be. I might post that, but I might not, because once I've revised it a fair amount, I just might consider trying to publish it as a novel! It's already heavily removed from the canon of the Metroid series enough that I might be able to do that, and I will most certainly let all of you know if I do. 
> 
> This may be the end of Birds, but as I've said before, I'm definitely going to keep writing Fledglings until I literally run out of ideas - there's already one in the works right now! I also have another "main fic" idea, so maybe watch out for that! It's gonna be a RWBY AU!
> 
> Finally, while I know that I say this each and every chapter, thank you so, so much for being here with me when this fic was finally concluded. It truly means more to me than I could even begin to express, and from the bottom of my heart, I hope that you enjoyed. I hope to see you all again in later works, but just in case I don't, I think that you're absolutely lovely, and I hope that you have a wonderful, fulfilling life. 
> 
> Thank you. 
> 
> -Red


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